Fight our Desires
by islandgirl33
Summary: Daryl never found out what happened to Beth after she was taken that dark night. He never forgot her. But he'd finally accepted she was gone, when his world is turned upside down and the group find her again. But she's not alone and she's changed in a way that blows his mind, having been rescued from the hospital by another man and now part of a new walled community. Bethyl story!
1. Chapter 1

"_You're going to miss me so bad when I'm gone, Daryl Dixon…."_

The startling truth in that statement was heart-breaking.

Those simple little words, seemed to always be with Daryl now. Wherever he was, whatever he was doing, they were always there stuck at the back of his mind, and no matter how hard he tried to forget them, he couldn't. He still remembered the girl that had uttered them, so vividly. He remembered like it was yesterday, exactly how he had felt, as they had fallen from her sweet young lips. Sad.

He had lost too many people, and the thought of losing her too, wasn't one that he been prepared to entertain back then. She had been his little something to live for. She had lost everyone she had ever known, and he had vowed, he would never let anything happen to her.

...

But now, months had passed since he'd last laid eyes on her pretty blonde face. But he'd never forgotten her.

Sometimes he felt as though he couldn't even remember what she looked like anymore. He just saw flashes of bright blonde hair, big blue eyes, pale skin and an infectious smile. But that didn't matter. All that mattered was how he felt when he thought of her, how his whole system still warmed up inside when he remembered what it had been like when she had been there, how it had made him feel. A feeling he had never had before.

...

The group were on the road again, Daryl had lost track of how long exactly. The days all seemed to merge in to one. But the cooler weather with the changing seasons, along with the fact that baby Judith nearly had a full set of teeth now and an impressive shock of hair, reminded him alone that it was a long time since the days of the prison.

...

Daryl was thankful he had met up with his group again, that together they had something to live for. But it was bitter sweet. Beth had always been the one out of the two of them that had never lost hope that they would be reunited with the group, that she would see her sister again and their friends. Daryl would have all but given up if it hadn't been for Beth. So it didn't feel right that she wasn't here with them now, whilst he was.

Sometimes he felt angry that they weren't doing more to find out what had happened to her. That everyone seemed to have given up on her. But in reality he was just angry at himself that _he_ hadn't done more. He hadn't been able to save her, to stay with her, to keep her safe and worst of all he hadn't been able to find her.

He knew the group were getting further and further away from the prison site and also with that further and further away from Beth. From her memory. But the pain of losing her was still there, every single day. First it had hit him like a raw stabbing pain, the heartbreak he had felt when everyone had met up again and he had realised she wasn't there, that they weren't going to find her, that she really was gone. It had taken him by surprise, but none the less it had hurt like nothing he had ever experienced before in his life. Daryl hadn't actually realised it was possible to feel such pain.

With each new day, it was becoming less and less likely he would ever find out what had happened to her. He had no leads, no clues to follow, locating her seemed near on impossible. To him, to Maggie, to Rick, to everyone. They had given up. He had given up, and that made him angry, sad and frustrated all at the same time.

Daryl tried to lock his feelings away, to bury them in a way he had always been so good at before. He had tried to move on, to forget.

Except he couldn't.

It was always there, like a dull ache. Every time something or someone reminded him of her, it hit Daryl how much he missed her and how much he longed for her to come back.

For the most part though, Daryl managed not to think about her in the daytime. The days were easier. He could keep himself busy, going on runs, fighting walkers, protecting the others and making plans with Rick. It was what he was good at. It was the only life he knew now and he felt finally for the first time in his life as though he belonged somewhere, as though he was valued. He mattered to his group, he knew that, he was a good person. But if he was honest it had been Beth that had made him see that. Ever since that night they had gotten drunk together and talked for hours, ending with them burning down that goddam awful place they'd found, Daryl had finally been able to leave the darkness of his abusive past behind him and take steps towards discovering who he really was.

...

However, if the days Daryl could just about manage to get by in, the nights weren't so easy. It was the nights that got to him the most. The long, lonely nights, where he couldn't pretend everything was okay. Where sleep never seemed to find him no matter how hard he tried, and mostly he would lie awake for hours haunted by his thoughts. Even on the few occasions that he did actually manage to fall asleep, Daryl would dream that Beth was still alive, that she was right there lying next to him, he could see her soft flawless skin and silky blonde hair, her pink lips teasing him with one of her playful smiles, telling him it was all okay, she was okay….Then he would wake with a start to reality, and he would hope for the best, but fear for the worst. She was dead.

Sometimes, he hoped she was dead, better that then what could be happening to her if she was still alive and with the wrong people. Something he knew he was completely powerless to stop now, and a thought he dreaded above all else. She had been so young, so innocent, he should have protected her better.

Mostly though, in the nights, Daryl would simply lie awake for hours, hands behind his head, staring at the night sky, shivering in the bitter winds, going over and over the same old things in his head. He thought about the guilt, the guilt of letting her get taken, of not being able to find her. He retraced every last second of their final moments together, how he had told her to wait outside without thinking. How he had shouted her name until his voice had gone hoarse and how he had run after her tracks until he had collapsed on the road. The immense guilt ate away at him.

He knew no-one else blamed him, not Rick, Michonne, Carol, Maggie even. They all knew only too well, what it was like in the world now. But that didn't stop Daryl from blaming himself. He couldn't look Maggie in the eye anymore either. Not because he felt bad that he wasn't able to save her sister, but because he knew Maggie had given up, she had accepted what he couldn't. _That Beth was gone forever._

It wasn't just the guilt, that kept Daryl awake night after night either. It was regret. Regret that he hadn't handled things differently with Beth back when he had had the chance. He'd had plenty of time to think about it since she had been gone. Back when they had been together he hadn't treated her the best, he knew that, he'd been moody and silent, lashed out at times even, taken all his frustration at losing the prison, out on her. But looking back, he could see that he had behaved in that way in part because he had been confused, at how being with her had made him feel. At how much she had slowly been starting to mean to him. How much he had started to want her. He hadn't been used to having those sorts of feelings, especially not about a girl as young and precious as Beth.

In his eyes back then she had just been a girl, Hershel Greene's youngest daughter. She'd had boyfriends her own age, she was immature, naive even, she judged him as some redneck asshole.

Except, she'd never judged him, she'd been wise beyond her years. Daryl could see that now and he wished he could go back. Have their time together again. There were things he would never have been able to say to her at the time, that perhaps he could now. He would try and tell her how much she meant to him, how she had given him hope in a way no-one ever had before, hope that he could have a chance at being happy. If Daryl Dixon had been a changed man back at the prison, he was even more of a changed one now. He could see life was short, life was precious. Any small chance of happiness had to be grabbed by the horns with both hands. And he could see now that being with Beth, getting close to her, even for that short time, _had made him happy._

He was watching other members of his group forming stronger bonds, while he felt alone, and now he craved that closeness in a way he never thought he was capable of. He had always been a lone wolf and happy with that. But just in those few days he had spent with Beth, he had come to realise that he could try to connect with another person, he could potentially take comfort from getting close to someone else. Beth had made him feel as though his life had meant something. He wasn't just some greasy redneck, he was a real man, a hero in her eyes.

Which was why losing her the way he had, felt so tragically ironic to Daryl. He had been anything but a hero, that dark night she had been whisked away from him so strangely and speedily. Leaving him feeling lost, as though there was something missing, something he hadn't even realised he'd needed, until it had been gone.

Sometimes, in his past Daryl had felt as though there was something wrong with him, because he didn't think he'd had needs like other people.

Although, he was still a male, and he'd had urges. He had appreciated the beauty in Beth even before the prison was taken and they'd grown closer. Having been unable to stop himself from experiencing the occasional sexual fantasy about her, despite thinking it was wrong and he would never act on it. Forcing himself to push his physical desires firmly to one side and see Beth only as a friend.

But when Daryl thought back to his last night with Beth at the funeral home, he could see now that he _had_ wanted them to get closer. Even if he hadn't been fully ready to face it at the time. In those last few moments before he'd had to fight off the walkers and she had been mysteriously taken, Daryl had been beginning to entertain the idea, as crazy as it seemed, that he could start something more intimate with her.

But all that had been cruelly taken away from him. Time had made him see that Beth was the one good thing to happen to him and now she was _gone._

**_A/N - Thanks for reading. Please, please, leave a review if you can :) Next chapter, Beth comes back!_**


	2. Chapter 2

**a/n - Thanks for all the feedback on last chapter. Okay, I have never written anything like this before so a little nervous, but here goes with the next chapter. I may still tweak it slightly. I also have a request. I would LOVE to find a beta to help me work on my ideas for this story and a couple of other 'walking dead' ones, (Daryl/Beth and Daryl/OC maybe). As it's new to me. If anyone is interested or can recommend anyone as there are so many listed, please PM me.**

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><p>"This place aint safe no more," Rick said, as he strode up to where Daryl was fiddling with his cross bow in the corner of the old rundown barn they had been taking shelter in for the past few weeks.<p>

Daryl looked up, but didn't say anything.

"No-where is safe anymore," he eventually responded gruffly, turning back to what he was doing, his dark hair falling over his eye as his muscular arm adjusted the edge of his weapon.

"I mean it, man. We need to move on, there's something up with this place. Tomorrow, before sunrise we need to be out of here, we can find some place new, recharge," Rick continued, pointing his finger in Daryl's face with passion.

"People don't feel safe here no more, foods been going missing, there have been people watching us, we've all felt it, we need to get out of here and on the road. Before the weather turns cooler too," Rick continued, pausing with his hand on his hip, his eyes searching Daryl intensely, awaiting his response.

Daryl set his crossbow down this time, looking Rick straight in the eye, as he said in agreement, "We're out of here before sunrise."

It wasn't a decision Daryl was thrilled with, they were comfortable where they were if nothing else. But he knew it was the right one. Rick was talking sense, there were definitely people staking them out. Supplies had gone astray and they were now running dangerously low, there had been strange tracks and people had caught glimpses in the woods of dark shadowy figures. It wasn't worth the risk.

However, Daryl wasn't so sure about Rick's plans to go to DC anymore. Not now the cure guy had turned out to be a dead end. Daryl had never been to DC, but he was pretty sure the streets weren't paved with gold before and they certainly wouldn't be now. Still, he didn't have a better idea, there didn't seem to be much to stick around Georgia for. He knew he had little chance of finding Beth now. She was gone. He had to try not to think about it, just except it and start over.

"Right, well first thing…" Rick said, opening his mouth to say some more, before he was abruptly stopped short by the sound of a woman screaming.

"Carol," Daryl yelled.

In a flash, Rick and Daryl followed by the rest of their group were by the entrance to the ruined building. They had boarded it over allowing for just a small look out for safety. Peering straight through they saw a group of about five or six rough looking men, all armed and pointing their weapons at the barn. In the centre was a mean looking older guy with long curly grey hair, holding a knife to a terrified looking Carol's throat.

Daryl instantly felt a surge of anger, as he moved through the door, followed by Rick.

"Not so fast," Rick said in a fierce whisper to him, using all his strength to hold a determined Daryl back.

"What do you want?" Rick yelled, clutching his gun in his hand.

"We want all your food and weapons, or she dies," the grey haired guy said in a gruff voice.

"Not going to happen," Rick yelled back, shaking his head. They'd fought off too many bad guys to lose everything to some rednecks like this.

"Oh yeah," the older guy said smirking back at Rick. Pinning a wriggling Carol even closer to him, he said, "The deal is you give us everything you've got and you get her back, plus the added bonus, you all get to live."

Daryl looked in to Carol's eyes, he could see his friend was scared but he could also see her pleading with him. She didn't want them to lose everything for her, she'd rather sacrifice herself, she was tough and this wasn't going to break her.

"How do we know, you're telling the truth?" Rick said firmly, looking the enemy straight in the eye.

"You don't," he replied, smirking even more.

Rick looked away, pressing his lips together, shaking his head. Daryl knew he had a decision to make. He would never willingly put any of the groups safety at risk, but he also couldn't just give up all their stuff, they'd die out here.

"Put your weapons down on the ground, now," the rough looking older guy ordered, his tone changing to an altogether more menacing one as he glared at Rick, Daryl and the rest of their group from where they were pointing their weapons back at his men. He pushed his blade in to Carol's neck some more as she let out a small whimper and one of his men let out a gunshot in to the air.

"Look, we don't want no trouble," Rick quickly said, holding his hands up to buy time.

"Oh yeah, well if she ain't a big enough incentive for you, how about the boy then?" the older guy said, gesturing in a split second to one of his men.

Before Rick and any of the others had the time to process it, the other guy had grabbed a terrified looking Carl from where he had been stood to the side of the group, pointing a gun at his head.

A look of panic instantly flooded across Rick's face at the sight of his only son in such a vulnerable position. Daryl knew this time their leader was well and truly backed in to a corner. There was no way he would let anything happen to Carl. If Rick ordered them to fire, there was a chance they might knock out some of the bad guys, but it would also mean Carl would get a bullet in his head in the process. That simply couldn't happen. They were screwed.

"Drop your weapons," Rick turned and said slowly to Daryl and the others, his voice displaying an undertone of defeat.

Before they had the chance to follow his orders a single gunshot rang out loud and clear. Blood then followed, pouring down the temple of the ugly grey haired ringleader seizing Carol, as he slumped over her enabling her to break free and grab his knife. Several more shots quickly followed, first the guy holding Carl was down, then one by one, all the others in the enemy group fell to the ground. In an instant, Rick, Daryl and the rest of the group had their weapons ready too. But they weren't needed.

Instead of fighting, they just stared wide eyed and dazed at the pile of corpses that had been so intent on robbing them of everything just moments before, as they tried to work out what the hell had happened.

It was Maggie that said it first, _"Beth."_

Daryl jolted at the mention of her name, adrenaline pulsing through him.

_Then he saw her too. _

His jaw dropped open slightly in shock. He couldn't miss her.

She looked subtly different to when he had last seen her. She was wearing a read and white checked blouse, tight blue jeans and brown boots. Her hair was a little longer and looked lighter and glossier, her skin was flawless, her eyes bright and alert, she also looked slightly older, her petite figure had a few more curves. But it was definitely her, it was definitely Beth. She looked great. Fresh and sparkly, in comparison to the dirty mess, Daryl and the others, all were.

Daryl couldn't take his eyes off her, watching her lips breaking in to the wide smile that he remembered only too well, lighting up her entire face.

"Maggie," she exclaimed as she rushed towards her sister, tears of joy brimming in both women's eyes as Maggie flung her arms around Beth's neck, clutching her tightly to her.

Daryl watched the sister's quietly, from where he was stood next to Rick.

Still embracing her sister, Beth looked up and around for a second, before catching Daryl's eye, neither of them had to say anything, the look was enough. _She was back._

Maggie and Beth stayed like that for a while, before the rest of the core group, Rick, Carl, Glenn, Carol, Michonne were all crowding around their old friend too. Scarcely able to believe it was her.

Daryl moved quietly over with the others, nodding and smiling a little awkwardly as Beth reunited with the group. A wave of emotion washing over him in the realisation, she was alive, she was okay. And he tried to make some sense of what had just happened. Beth was really here, she'd survived, she looked incredible. Did she really just take out that entire group of assholes on her own?

"You want to tell me what's going on, blondie?" An unfamiliar male voice said, breaking up the reunion, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and turn to see, Beth wasn't alone.

She had another guy with her. He looked around late twenties, was tall and muscular with a handsome face and dirty blonde hair and he was fully armed.

"It's okay, Ryan," Beth said excitedly, "These are my people, I've found them again."

"Your people?" he questioned, with a guarded, slightly arrogant tone.

"Yes, you can trust them," Beth went on to say calmly.

"You can't trust no-one, you know that," Ryan replied firmly, as his eyes locked coldly with Rick's.

"Yeah, well, guess what? We don't trust no-one either," Rick responded boldly, his eyes narrowing.

"Who is this asshole?" Ryan said to Beth, not moving his eyes away from Beth's former leader.

"Never mind who I am. Who the hell are you?" Rick said directly to Ryan with an icy glare.

"Beth," Maggie suddenly cut in, her eyes full of concern.

"This is my sister, Maggie," Beth explained to her companion, trying to diffuse the situation a little.

Keeping her voice calm still, Beth sucked in a breath and said, "This is Ryan, he saved my life."

Remaining silent, Daryl felt as though he had just taken a bullet to the chest as those words rang through him.

Beth had been kidnapped by bad people under his watch and _he_ should have been the one to save her, not this jackass. He felt a mixture of pain, anger, confusion and relief. Of course he was over the moon she was safe, and even if he wasn't great at showing it he was immensely happy to see her again. He had honestly given up hope that he ever would. But now that she was back looking more beautiful and alive than ever, it was completely messing with his head. She'd changed. But more importantly, he just couldn't stop thinking that she should never have been parted from him in the first place.

"Well, pleased to meet you, Ryan," Maggie said, stretching out her hand forcing the younger guy to turn and acknowledge her.

"What you doing out here, Beth?" Rick said directly to her.

"We were out looking for supplies, when we heard gunshots. We got a walled community hidden about a mile and half away, we've got shelter, supplies, lots of food, water and medicine. It's an old secret army base, it's secure, I can take you all there. You can join us," Beth explained.

"Beth," Ryan cut in, shaking his head, still frowning a little.

"You got a leader?" Rick said to them both.

"Yep, his name is Jack, he's a good guy like you, Rick. I can take you to him, you can work something out, y'all be safe there," Beth said.

"Okay," Rick replied, nodding in agreement.

..


	3. Chapter 3

**a/n - Thanks for the lovely response to last chapter. I didn't really have time to update so quickly, but I was excited to get the next chapter out. Please let me know what you think. (Oh and I'm still looking for someone to help me with my ideas at some point.)**

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><p>"You okay?" Carol said, to a thoughtful Daryl as they walked along the deserted dusty footpath, bringing up the rear of their group, making their way across the countryside to Beth's new camp.<p>

Daryl had barely spoken to anyone since leaving their old shelter behind earlier. He knew full well he was being a tad moody and aloof, but he couldn't help it. There was just too much going on in his head once again. Completely out of the blue Beth was back. Just when most people had reluctantly given up on ever seeing her sweet face again, Beth had surprised them all and seemingly just appeared out of no-where, bright and fresh and full of life with the promise of a safe community for them to join.

Daryl had barely said anything to her in the short time she had been back with them. Just muttering a polite, "Great to see you," or some crap, before skulking off to leave her talking to Maggie, Glenn, Rick and the others. It was easier that way. He could find out what had happened to her later.

...

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" he mumbled, looking sideways back at his friend in response to her question. He hadn't forgotten, moments earlier Carol had nearly been butchered right in front of his eyes.

"Oh, me, I'm fine," she said with a small smile, adding, "I'm made of tough stuff, you know that."

"Yeah," Daryl replied, agreeing with her. Carol was a fighter. Nothing seemed to faze her much anymore.

Returning to silence once again for a moment they walked on, before Carol suddenly said, "It's the right thing to do."

Daryl kept his eyes straight in front of him he knew Carol thought he had reservations about leaving their old base, about trusting anyone new after all they had been through. But she was wrong, he did try and see the good in people and things now, more than she and any of their other friends realised. Of course they were all cautious about new people, but Beth was one of their own, if she could vouch for the new place, it had to be worth checking out.

"Yeah, maybe," he eventually mumbled back in response again. His tone warning her not to push it further, he just wasn't in the mood for talking much.

"We couldn't have carried on for much longer back there, Daryl…. I know you don't think we should trust people anymore, but we won't do anything stupid, and it's _Beth_," Carol said, ignoring his brush off, trying to reason with him.

Daryl's eyes flitted to the group in front on them, resting where Beth was walking along with Maggie and Glenn, her new mysterious male companion walking silently by her side. Despite what Carol was thinking right now, it wasn't that Daryl was closed to finding somewhere safe. He was aware they shouldn't trust anyone new, but they were also getting pretty desperate and Carol was right, Beth was hardly a stranger.

His awkwardness with the current situation was more around seeing Beth again out of the blue. It felt amazing, but there was still so many unresolved questions. When he had last seen her it had just been the two of them, at one point he had thought that it might have always been just the two of them. How things had changed.

Despite barely so much as uttering her name to anyone since she had been gone, Daryl had thought about the younger Greene girl non stop since she had been taken that night outside the funeral home. He'd thought about the speed the black car with the cross had taken off with, he'd thought about where it could have gone and how he could have found it, over and over again. Now after all this time she had found them again and he just couldn't wrap his head around it. The reality being he had precisely no idea how he was supposed to handle it.

...

Daryl set his backpack down beside him, taking in a deep breath as he starred methodically out at the gushing river in front of him, taking comfort from the soothing sound of the clear water bubbling over a colourful assortment of rocks and stones. The beauty in nature never failed to amaze him, even now, as golden beams from the setting sun danced off the sparkling water in front of him.

The group had been at Beth's new home for a few hours. It seemed well run and pretty civilized. It was in reasonably good condition, and had been kept well hidden with high walls around the perimeter and a secure gated entrance, it was some sort of ex military base with plenty of small houses and buildings, set away from the main road and next to a small river that Daryl hadn't even been aware existed until now. A safe haven in the ever expanding world of chaos and darkness that they now all sadly existed in.

Rick had spoken briefly to the leader, a surprisingly well mannered guy in his mid to late thirties called Jack. They hadn't been turned away and could stay for now, but despite their strong connection to Beth there were still things that needed to be worked out on both sides before the group could be fully welcomed and settle here. Daryl, along with the rest of Rick's group was well aware of that.

In the short time that they had been there, Daryl had kept himself to himself, preferring just to be in his own company. He had concluded that it was a bit like Woodbury, only not quite so soulless, more of a community and it was a safe zone, they had systems in place and people seemed content, like they had a chance at a reasonable existence again.

Daryl had to admit that so far he got a good vibe from the place. Although his gut always told him to reserve judgement, that things were not always as they seemed and for that reason alone he had hung back a bit to take it all in.

Beth had been right; they seemed to have supplies here too. Fresh water, food, weapons, along with the promise of clean clothes, beds with actual mattresses and pillows, and people that smiled occasionally. Daryl could see why the safe zone would seem like a pretty attractive offer to the rest of his group, once they had staked it out properly and could fully relax. Plus, Beth was there too of course which meant there was more of a reason for them to have faith that this could be a safe place, their new home.

However, despite not being able to take his eyes off her, Daryl still hadn't managed to interact properly with Beth yet. They had exchanged a few looks since they had got back to the camp; Beth had smiled in his direction more than once. But they hadn't had an actual conversation.

Daryl knew that it must seem as though on some level he was avoiding her, but whenever she had looked to be on her own and he had wanted to approach her, she had quickly been interrupted by Maggie, or become pre-occupied with Judith, or engrossed in a conversation with Carol. It had just become easier for him to keep his distance. But that didn't mean that he wasn't aching to be near her again, to talk to her, to say the things that had been in his head ever since that eventful night she had gone.

…..

Daryl drew in a breath; feeling a slight breeze sweeping back his long dark hair, exposing his rugged handsome features. He contemplated just how he had gotten here after everything to this seemingly peaceful place. He thought about how quickly things could change, how bleak things had seemed days before. He watched as a blade of grass in front of him swayed gently in the same early evening breeze and he suddenly felt a presence beside him.

Glancing to his left wondering for a second if he was imagining it, he saw a slight figure had sat down next to him. Beth.

Her blonde ponytail was falling loosely down her back in waves, her eyes sparkling just as he remembered, her rosy pink lips pressed together.

He didn't say anything at first, just looked back at her, feeling a small flutter spread through him as his dark blue eyes met her lighter blue ones straight on, her cheeks flushing slightly. It was clear their first proper conversation was not going to be easy.

"I can't believe I haven't spoken to ya yet," Beth said tentatively, awaiting his response, a small tingle growing in her stomach.

"Yeah," Daryl agreed slowly, forcing a small smile.

He had gone over a thousand times in his head what he would say and do if he saw her again. Now he was faced with that very scenario he was lost for words. The way she was looking at him, her face full of apprehension, he knew she wanted or expected something from him. Something he just wasn't sure he could give her.

"I brought you some food, you must be starving," Beth went on to say, her heart pounding.

A long lock of golden hair fell across her cheek as she placed a plate of food down next to him. Daryl wasn't quite sure what it was, but it looked and smelt better than anything he'd eaten for months. It was also presented on a china plate with actual eating utensils, a complete rarity in the world these days. Perhaps he was dreaming, he thought.

"Thanks," he replied, looking away for a moment and back at the clear gushing water in front of him on the riverbed, his lungs filling deeply with pure oxygenated air.

Looking out to the water too, Beth placed both her hands underneath her thighs, drawing in a breath. "I used to come out here to think all the time when I first got here," she said, the gentle softness to her voice creating a sort of warmth in Daryl.

She paused, before adding, "I used to just gaze out at the water, at the wonder in it. I couldn't quite believe that I was still alive, that I'd made it out. I had another chance to live and there were still good people in the world, _after_….." This time she trailed off and stopped, as the atmosphere shifted, an unspoken air of tension hitting them both.

"Beth, I,…." Daryl started hesitantly, shaking slightly as he forced himself to continue, "The car…I tried… I..."

"I know," Beth quickly cut in, looking straight at him through her long eyelashes. He didn't have to say this.

"I followed the tracks...but..." he continued, his voice thick with emotion.

"I know," she repeated with conviction in her voice.

Another silence fell between them. Beth's wide clear blue eyes looking across at Daryl staring back at her intensely.

He didn't need to say anything further, Beth could see everything he wanted to express deep in his eyes.

There had never been any doubt in her mind that Daryl would have done absolutely everything in his power to go after her that night. She had known he would have managed to fight the walkers in the funeral home off with ease, and he would have made it out and somehow met up with the others again, she had meant every word when she had once told him that he would be the last man standing.

"I tried, I tried…" he repeated again quietly, adding, "But you were _just gone_," looking away from her and in to the distance, communicating like this certainly didn't come easily to him.

Beth took another deep breath, her lower lip trembling, her eyes widening even more as she took in the hardened features on Daryl's handsome face.

"It weren't your fault, Daryl," she said looking at the pain etched in his eyes, "If anyone is to blame, it's me. I don't remember much, but I know I wasn't exactly doing the best job of hiding myself on the road while I waited, and I couldn't get away with that stupid damn sprained ankle, I couldn't have made it easier for them to take me if I'd tried."

Silence fell between them once again, tense awareness in the air still, as Daryl digested her words, there was so much he wanted to ask her in response.

He opened his mouth but the words dried on his tongue. He knew he needed to hear what had happened to her, but he was painfully aware right now wasn't the time. When she was ready she would tell him, until then he would simply be thankful she was okay, she was right here next to him again, breathing the same air, alive.

"We got places you can get cleaned up, if ya like," Beth eventually said, uncertainty in her voice as she changed the subject.

Daryl looked down at his feet, alerted to the fact he was a filthy, greasy mess. Bathing wasn't really top priority when he was concentrating on trying to stay alive.

He opened his mouth to make a smart retort, thinking better of it as Beth beat him to it, quickly adding with a shy smile, "You can use our place if you like, we have an actual shower that works."

Daryl felt his body stiffen, as her words sunk in. She lived here now, with _someone._ Why did that even matter to him? She wasn't his, not like that and never would be and that was exactly how it should be. Whatever he may or may not feel for her might confuse the hell out of him, but it was irrelevant and always had been. She was Beth. She was like a younger sister to him, anything else would be entirely inappropriate.

"That guy?" he couldn't help but mutter in a slightly gruff voice, without even having the chance to think about it. He looked up and their eyes met for a moment, his eyes widening, questioning.

Beth felt something tugging at her heart as she held Daryl's gaze. She could see a trickle of sweat winding down his forehead, her lips parted as her gaze swept across his face, resting on his troubled eyes again, as she simply said, "He saved my life," her voice shaking as she added, "But _you_ saved it first."

Slowly she glided her right hand out from under her, placing her small delicate fingers over Daryl's larger rough ones, instantly lacing them together in a way that felt so natural to them both, causing electricity to instantly rush through them. Daryl savoured the sensation of her touch for a moment more, before slowly pulling his hand away as he found his bare muscular arms were suddenly wrapping themselves around her neck, drawing her to him. Beth's eyes fluttered closed as she pressed her body closer to his, so close she could feel his heart beating in his chest. Daryl relished the softness of her body next to his as he inhaled her scent. Electricity shooting down his arms and throughout his body some more, sexual awareness, a sensation he was not familiar with anymore.

They stayed like this for a while, time standing still with the wonder of the moment, hitting them with raw emotions they couldn't quite figure out. Their close friendship had been unexpected , but ran deeper than any either had experienced before. Now after everything that had happened to them both, they were back together...

...


	4. Chapter 4

**a/n - Thanks again for the reviews and support for this story. I'm really enjoying writing about these characters, I can't wait to add more chapters and reveal more of the story :)**

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><p>Beth took a deep breath, her pulse still racing slightly, still a little high from the warm and fuzzy feeling she'd experienced moments earlier after her heart to heart with Daryl and their hug.<p>

Reaching her bedroom door she hesitated for a second, before she calmly turned the door handle to walk in to the room she had been lucky enough to call her own, ever since she had been taken in to Ryan's group.

"Where have you been? We were looking all over. I hope you don't mind but I've been looking for some bed sheets to put on the bed, but I couldn't.. " Maggie said, looking up to see Beth stood in front of her, stopping mid sentence, noticing her younger sister had two opened beers in her hands.

"Sorry, I was talking to Daryl," Beth replied casually, holding a bottle out to her sister.

She still couldn't quite believe her older sister was here. That by some strange twist of fate she had somehow managed to stumble across Maggie and the others, just when she had least been expecting it. For a long time, Beth had thought there was a good chance she would never see Maggie again, now just like that she was stood right there in front of her, talking to her about bed sheets, it was pretty surreal.

"Are you for real?" Maggie said, her mouth falling open in shock as she looked from Beth to the beers. Maggie honestly couldn't remember the last time she'd had a beer. Her younger sister being the very last person she would have expected to be offering her one too.

"Here," Beth said with a smile, passing the bottle across to her sister.

"It's a little warm and just the cheap and nasty stuff that got left behind, but it's a beer." Beth added, placing the bottle in to her sister's hand.

"Thanks," Maggie said, still in shock, as she put the warm frothy liquid to her mouth to drink, savouring every last sip of the precious beverage.

"Since when did you drink anyway?" Maggie said, taking the bottle away from her parched lips, wiping her mouth, eying her younger sister curiously. Thinking there was definitely something different about her, she looked older, less vulnerable, more composed. Maggie could tell she had grown up a lot since the prison, she was a woman now. She had lost that scared little girl look. She was growing in to a real beauty too. Her lips were fuller and eyes brighter, and her skin was glowing in a radiant way, her cheek bones altogether more defined.

Beth just shrugged as her sister continued to look at her, she wouldn't even know where to start. From the night she got wasted with Daryl in the woods, changing everything. To the many times she'd had to fight for her life since then. She was different now. She was far from the weak and naive girl that Maggie had lost back at the prison. Beth saw the world with new eyes now, she'd had to after everything she had been through.

"Well, whatever, I'm glad you do," Maggie said flashing her sister one of her warmest smiles, holding her bottle to Beth's to chink. Maggie couldn't put in to words how happy she was to see her only living relative again.

"We only have a small stash, we try to only save them for special occasions," Beth said looking at her sister affectionately. Being reunited with her only sister was a pretty big deal, worth celebrating.

…

"So, you sure it's okay for us to take your bed?" Maggie questioned biting her lower lip as they drank some more.

Maggie would be grateful to sleep anywhere that wasn't a hard stable floor, but Beth had offered her and Glenn her double bed, a luxury Maggie couldn't refuse.

"Of course, I can just sleep on the sofa, it's no big deal," Beth replied.

"Here," she went on to say as she passed her sister some clean sheets from the side, setting her beer down as she unfolded the base one, gesturing for Maggie to take the opposite corners.

"You take that side," Maggie said bossily, re-positioning the sheet in her hands as she spread it out on the bed.

Beth looked at her older sister arching her eyebrows slightly; Maggie had always had a way of taking charge and bossing her around a little. They could almost be back at the farm now, almost. It was amazing how quickly they could fall back to being sisters again.

"So, you and Ryan then?" Maggie suddenly said playfully as they got to work, her eyes burning with curiosity. There were many things she wanted to question her younger sibling about, but for now she would just settle with quizzing her on the more light-hearted stuff.

"Oh, we're just friends, that's all." Beth said awkwardly, looking away concentrating on the corner she was tucking in to the edge of the bed, her blonde pony tail bobbing up and down as her cheeks reddened a little.

Feeling her sisters eyes on her, Beth thought how that wasn't exactly true. Beth had had her fair share of male admirers over the years, and she knew that ever since the day that Ryan had saved her from the hospital there was something unspoken between them. But something had held Beth back from getting too involved. She had thought at first it was just that she couldn't risk getting too close to anyone again. But the nagging feeling at the back of her head, told her it wasn't that, it was something else. Something she couldn't let go of.

"Really? He see it like that?" Maggie questioned further, a little taken aback as she took in Beth's flushed cheeks and uncomfortable tone.

Maggie had never known her sister to be embarrassed about boys before. Beth had always been the prettiest girl in their town, she'd had no shortage of boyfriends when they had been growing up, and from the looks of him to Maggie, Ryan was just her sister's type. Insanely good looking for a start, with a kind of self assured cockiness that was very attractive, but he also had kind eyes to go with it, he was the loyal type. Maggie could see that. She had seen the way he had been looking at Beth too. In the short time she had been at their camp, Maggie could tell he thought the world of her sister.

"Uh,huh," Beth said, not wanting to elaborate further.

It wasn't that she wasn't starving to have that kind of connection to someone, to have intimacy, love even. It would be a welcome distraction from the darkness that had now erupted in the world. Beth just wasn't sure if that was where her friendship with Ryan was really heading. Besides he was a man and he had needs, he was experienced, he would expect things from Beth she felt sure of that, things she wasn't sure she was ready to give.

"Well, if you say so, but he's a good looking guy, Beth. He'd take care of you. You could do a lot worse. Daddy would like him too…." Maggie said eagerly as she plumped up one of the pillow cases.

Maggie knew perhaps she was being a little presumptuous, she hadn't exactly know Ryan long, but Maggie prided herself on being a good judge of character and anyone that had taken care of her little sister all this time when she hadn't been able to, was more than okay by her.

Half listening to her sister, Beth stood up to smooth down the other side of the duvet cover. Lifting her head up her eyes flicked to the window beside her and she caught sight of Daryl stood alone on the ground outside, instantly hitting her with a rush of butterflies as she focused in on him.

He was examining one of the old disused motorcycles that had been left around, no-one in their group had been able to get it going yet. He looked deep in concentration, his dark hair falling over his eyes. He looked a little weary still, with all the signs of someone that had had a hard life, but looking down at him Beth had never really noticed how handsome he was before.

There was just enough light in the sky to enable him to see as dusk crept in and Beth continued to gaze down at him, drowning out the sound of Maggie's voice as she thought back to their earlier conversation by the river. Beth knew that Daryl would have felt terrible after she had just vanished the last night they had been alone together, she also knew that he would have tried everything in his power to go after her. But it had still been nice to hear him say it. Beth was also aware that conversation had never been Daryl's strong point, but she'd come to realize a look was worth a thousand words with him and the way he had both looked at her and held her for that short time earlier, had told her all that she needed to know. He was happy to see her again, really happy.

"Listen, Bethy, I'm just going to say this, saving yourself for that one special guy, well the world aint the same place anymore, y'know…." Maggie carried on talking at her, as Beth continued to be distracted by Daryl on the ground below.

Watching his expression some more Beth wondered what Daryl was thinking.

He wiped his brow a little as he set something down on the ground. Then she saw Rick marching over to him, engaging him straight away in conversation. Beth was curious as to what they were talking about, it looked quite serious, Rick was doing all the talking, waving his hands around in the same slightly animated way he always used to do back at the prison when he felt passionate about something. Daryl was nodding in agreement. Beth's heart sunk a little, she knew that they were wary of strangers; she couldn't bear it if they didn't trust Jack, Ryan and the rest of her new group. Even worse if they didn't want to stay here.

She then felt a small wave of relief as both men broke in to laughter, Rick patting Daryl on the arm before he walked away, Daryl turning back to what he had been doing before. The two men were going to stay in one of the empty buildings at the site, along with a few of their other people. There were a few vacant places in Beth's new community. Her new group having lost people too, now being down to smaller numbers.

"What were you talking to Daryl about?" Maggie suddenly said, taking Beth by surprize, joining her by the window catching her watching Daryl on the ground below.

"Just catching up," Beth replied a little dreamily.

"Well, I guess he was the last person to see you, after you..." Maggie said, trailing off.

They both watched him in silence some more, before Maggie added, "He told us about the car that took you, I think he felt bad he couldn't do anything," pausing some more, as Beth silently willed her sister to carry on, she wanted to know if Daryl had spoken about her much when she hadn't been there.

"You know Daryl though, he aint exactly Mr Chatty, it was hard to get anything out of him," Maggie stated bluntly before turning away.

"If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be here now. He took care of me when there was no-one else." Beth replied a little defensively, her cheeks burning.

Even though she hadn't seen Daryl in a long time, after their time together she felt certain she knew him better than anyone now and the urge to defend him was strong. There was so much more to him, than Maggie and everyone else realised. Just because he couldn't express it in words, didn't mean he hadn't been bothered that she had gone.

"He's a great guy," Maggie said smiling, picking up on Beth's tone. Her eyes falling to where Daryl was stood alone on the ground again.

A lot about Daryl seemed like an enigma to Maggie. Sometimes they got along. But it wasn't like he ever talked to anyone about how he was feeling. Well maybe he talked to Carol, but she didn't think he did it very often. Maggie hadn't been aware of just how much Daryl had meant to her little sister either. But then again they'd spent time together surviving in the wild after the prison, experiences like that could bond people, Maggie knew that.

"He's the best," Beth responded, her voice full of emotion.

Maggie looked from Daryl on the ground back to where Beth was stood beside her, she opened her mouth to say something more, but before she had the chance to say anything further, the front door to the building opened noisily, two male voices followed.

"That will be Glenn back with Ryan," Maggie said changing the subject.

Beth just nodded as another silence fell and they both turned away from the window, hearing the voices getting louder. Beth shared the place with Ryan and his sister Isobel, and she was relieved that they had seemed to accept her own sister and husband so easily.

The silent moment was broken as Glenn burst in to the room, "Maggie, Beth….." Glenn said as he flung the door open.

"Sorry, am I interrupting something?" he mumbled awkwardly, looking from Maggie to Beth as he took in the sudden silence.

"Not at all," Beth quickly said, with a bright smile.

"Okay, it's just a few of us have been hunting, we've got a few things to cook over the fire outside, lights not great and it's getting colder but Rick said to group everyone together in a bit," Glenn said sounding more relaxed.

"Great, I'm starving," Maggie said excitedly, walking towards her husband, "You coming?" she said looking back at Beth.

"Sure," Beth replied, her eyes flickering to the window again one last time to see Daryl had now disappeared from where he had been stood.

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><p><strong>an - Would love to hear your thoughts on this chapter. It was more from Beth's POV and I wanted to add in some Maggie, as I find it frustrating on the show how the writers sometimes seem to overlook that they're sisters. Next Chapter will be more Beth & Daryl. I am also toying with the idea of some romance for either Rick or Carol (not together, lol ) If that would be interesting? Let me know.**


	5. Chapter 5

Daryl leaned back, throwing another twig in to the glowing fire in front of him. It had been a long time since he had managed to get a fire burning this intensely, the large flickering flames dancing brightly before his eyes, symbolizing a hope of some sorts, something good.

There was a mood of almost contentment around the fire, his people had eaten more than they had done in weeks, and they had a new home now too. People in Rick's group were finally starting to relax a little. This place was for now at least as safe as anywhere could be.

Daryl's people were all huddled together under the clear night sky, along with a few members of the new group of survivors that had so far accommodated them at their safezone. Daryl was sat next to Carol. He hadn't said much, settling for taking in the atmosphere, watching the fire and listening to everyone else talking around him.

Beth was sat a short distance away from him next to Maggie. They hadn't spoken since she had appeared around the fire with her older sister, but Daryl was very aware she was there, stealing small glances in her direction whenever he got the chance.

…

From where she was sat, Beth pulled her hooded sweater a little tighter around herself for comfort. She looked around at the shadowy figures surrounding her. It was good to see familiar faces again, her people, she thought, her eyes instinctively brushing with Daryl's as she spotted him sat quietly opposite her next to Carol, causing a small flutter to rush through her. He'd not said much yet, but Beth had seen the way he had looked at her when she had arrived with Maggie and Glenn earlier. She knew he wanted to talk to her some more.

Daryl couldn't help but look away as Beth's eyes met his. He wasn't quite sure why it made him feel so uncomfortable. But the old feelings he'd started to experience when they had been surviving alone together were slowly starting to creep back now that he was around her again. The strange sensation of excitement when he thought about getting close to her, followed by the slight anxiety when she looked at him a certain way, opening up the very real possibility that she felt something similar too. He had missed her so much, longed to have her back. Now that she finally was back, he knew he was going to have to man up, he'd changed, they both had, their friendship and closeness had been unexpected, but it was undoubtedly one of the best things to ever happen to him and he didn't want it to just fade away now that it was no longer just the two of them. But he was painfully aware that he was no good at this kind of thing either.

Beth looked back at the fire in front of her again as Daryl looked away, his presence was stirring something in her. He'd cleaned up a bit since their earlier conversation, he looked like he'd had a shave and changed his clothes. Although he'd aged, gained a few more scars, he'd never looked so handsome to her.

She wrapped her arms around her knees, unsure what to say, biting her lower lip, tucking a strand of her silky blonde hair behind her ear. Out of the corner of her eye she suddenly saw another familiar handsome male figure walking towards her.

"You mind if I squeeze in there, blondie?" Ryan said with a flirty grin at Beth, sitting down next to her, the fabric of his shirt brushing her arm. He smelt good. Beth still couldn't quite work out how he managed to get hold of cologne with the world the way it was.

He took a bottle out of his shirt pocket and drank, offering it to her when he was done.

Beth shook her head, "No thanks."

Unfazed he put the bottle back in to his shirt. "See you've moved your stuff out on to the sofa," he said, looking at her intently. His piercing green eyes fixed on hers.

"Yeah, Maggie and Glenn are having my room for now," Beth replied innocently.

"Well, you could always share my bed," Ryan added playfully, grinning some more.

Beth didn't say anything, settling for raising her eyebrows in pretend annoyance as she looked away from her good-looking friend, feeling her cheeks redden she couldn't help but smile slightly. The world was falling apart all around them but somehow he still always managed to make her smile.

"Suit yourself, but plenty of chicks would love to be in your position," he said with an arrogant smirk.

Beth shifted slightly awkwardly aware people were looking at them, Daryl was looking at them. Normally she enjoyed the banter with Ryan, but right now his flirting was making her feel a tad uncomfortable. It wasn't unusual for them to sit around outside together after dark, alone or with some of their other friends, chatting and laughing, it was what kept them going most days, but tonight was different.

"Whatever you say," she eventually responded to Ryan, looking away and down at the ground.

She raised her head slightly just enough to catch Daryl's eye straight on again, just for a second, before they both looked away and pretended it hadn't happened. But it was enough to tell Beth that Daryl had been taking in her conversation with Ryan. She wondered what he had made of it. Part of her knew it didn't matter, but part of her also didn't want Daryl to think that Ryan was her boyfriend. Which confused her. Daryl might be fond of her, but she didn't think he thought of her like that, it wouldn't matter to him whether she had a boyfriend or not, would it?

...

Daryl could feel his face burning slightly as he moved his eyes away from the young blonde girl in front of him. He knew Beth was a beautiful girl, she'd had boyfriends before in the time he had known her and plenty of other male interest too. He hadn't really paid it that much attention, apart from feeling possibly a little protective. But now seeing her with this guy, after everything he and Beth had been through together, it was hitting him in a whole new way. Ryan was older than Beth's other boyfriends, he was strong, he could handle himself, he was a man. Daryl knew that Ryan had saved Beth, he had looked after her, but despite that there was still something about him that irritated Daryl, it wasn't that he was clearly very headstrong and determined, it was more that he was just too full of himself and egotistical, and Daryl could tell that Rick wasn't too keen on him either.

Taking a sip of his drink Daryl looked to his side where Rick and Carol were busy talking, trying to catch their conversation instead, drowning out the noise coming from Beth's side of the fire. Looking back quickly one last time to see Ryan leaning in to say something else to both Beth and Maggie this time, Daryl didn't catch what it was but Beth blushed and Maggie broke in to huge ripple of laughter. Daryl didn't think he'd ever seen Maggie laugh that loud. It caught the attention of Rick and Carol too as they stopped talking and looked over for a moment, amused; it was very rare to see people actually having fun these days.

Before anyone had the chance to say anything else, another attractive blonde woman appeared. She looked kind of familiar, tall with lightly sun kissed skin and large hazel green eyes. Daryl could see she had caused all conversation around the fire to grind to a halt, she had caught everyone's attention, it was unusual to see someone so stunning these days. She looked in the direction, Daryl, Rick and Carol were sat flashing them a warm smile, before turning to where Ryan was sat with Beth.

"Ryan, Jack wants to see you," the blonde said.

"Tell him I'll be there in a minute, sis," Ryan replied.

"He said now," she responded, urgency in her voice.

"Okay," Ryan said instantly, this time standing up straight away, before they both walked off without saying another word.

…..

With Ryan as well as several other people now gone, the group around the fire seemed to be down to smaller numbers. Rick shifted slightly closer to where Beth was sat with Maggie and Glenn. He pressed his lips together and swallowed as he looked at Beth, clearing his throat.

"So, Beth, you never really said what happened to you, where you went and how you came to be here with these people?" He questioned seriously.

Daryl looked up immediately from where he had been face down again, chewing on his last few mouthfuls of food. He had wanted to ask Beth that exact same question, but unlike Rick he hadn't been able to find the right words yet.

Beth felt her face flush, sensing all eyes on her again. She was never good at being the centre of attention,

"I err…I, well, I don't really remember much. One minute I was out on the road fighting a walker, after…" she stammered, looking at Daryl as he just looked back at her nodding slowly in reassurance, neither of them had to say anything as they shared the memory of their last night together.

"Go on," Rick said gently, he could tell this was difficult for Hershel Greene's youngest daughter. But he also knew they all needed to know what had happened to her. Because right now it was still a mystery.

"Then, the next thing I remember, I woke up in some kind of hospital," Beth continued, her voice trembling.

"A hospital," Maggie exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah, but it weren't a good place, bad stuff happened there, that's where I was when Ryan and the others found me, they were looking for someone else," Beth explained.

"But you must have been miles out of the city, how did you get there?" Rick cut in, a confused look on his face.

There was a brief silence, before Daryl spoke up for the first time, "There was a car, a black car with a white cross," he said in a low voice. This was the first time he had spoken about that night since they had all been trapped in terminus and he had briefly explained what had happened to Maggie.

"A black car with a white cross?" Carol suddenly questioned, her eyes wide with shock, looking as though a light had just been switched on in her head.

"Yeah, why?" Daryl said confused, turning to look at his friend.

"I saw a car that fitted that description too, the night we first arrived at the church, the night I went off on my own for a while. I thought it was odd, but it was going so fast I had no idea what it was doing. I came straight back to tell you all, but everyone was so distracted with Bob being taken and finding Gareth, that…" Carol responded, her voice speeding up as she clutched her hand to her chest looking visibly shaken.

If Carol had only known that the car she had seen that night had been a clue to finding Beth, she would have made sure she'd told them all straight away. Carol had only ever been aware that Beth had still been missing after the fall of prison as she hadn't been at terminus with any of the others, she'd never discussed what had happened with Daryl. He'd never mentioned it.

"It's okay, you weren't to know," Rick said in a kind voice, turning to Carol as he placed his hand on her arm.

"No," Beth agreed, looking at Carol's visible distress. None of this was anyone's fault, not Carol's, Rick's, Daryl's, not even her own Beth had finally accepted.

"Well, none of that matters now anyway, right? Beth's okay and we're all here, so I say everything has worked out just as it's supposed to," Maggie suddenly said smiling, looking around the fire as one by one everyone slowly nodded in agreement.

Everyone except Daryl, who was still in shock from Carol's reveal. If only he'd been there at the same time as Carol that night. _H__e would have seen the car too…He would have been able to do something..He could have found Beth himself._

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><p><strong>an – Thanks for the lovely reviews, they are very much appreciated. **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N - Sorry for the delay in updating this story. I have had a slight case of writers block and trying to stay true to the characters, but am back on track with it now. I am going to continue updating until TWD returns. As always any ideas and suggestions are most welcome :)**

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><p>Beth felt her stomach flip with a sudden rush of anxiety as she watched her group's leader Jack approaching the spot where she was still sat relaxing around the fire with Rick, Daryl and a few other members of her old group of survivors.<p>

Jack was followed by Beth's closest friend in her new group, Ryan, along with his sister Isobel and some of the other people involved in running their place so efficiently, keeping it a safe zone.

Scanning them, Beth noted they all looked deadly serious. Beth knew they were good people, but they were also with good reason extremely wary of other survivors joining there well established community here. They had rules about keeping the majority of new people out until they had been fully vetted.

Now, despite her close connections to Rick's group, Beth really had no idea if this would be any different and they would be accepted here straight away, a place where she knew they could get safety, food and shelter. From the first look of Rick and the others, they could easily be seen to be trouble, and although they had been welcomed so far, Beth knew their long term presence wouldn't sit well with some of her new family as things stood.

Rick nodded his head in a friendly manner, as Jack and the others walked across to greet him,.

"I must say, Rick, your survival skills are admirable. It's pretty something to have made it out there for so long," Jack said politely and calmly, stopping directly in front of the former sheriff.

Daryl was stood quietly beside Rick, watching the scene unfold between the two leaders. Knowing whatever happened, first and foremost he had Rick's back, his leader, his friend, his brother.

"Man's got to do, what a man's go to do," Rick replied equally as calmly from where he was stood in front of Jack and an unspoken look was exchanged between the two men. Both aware, to have kept their people alive this long, took courage, as well as a willingness to partake in the darker side of life.

Jack remained silent, just nodding to himself, thinking. Beth felt her insides knot with nerves, she couldn't face the thought of her people leaving just when she had found them again, But she also knew she couldn't just up and leave behind the people that had taken her in, when not so long ago she'd had nothing.

"Well, I think we're on the same page there," Jack eventually responded carefully, still locking eyes with Rick.

"Pretty impressive set up you have here considering, a real community, it seems safe," Rick said, his voice remaining calm as he held Jack's gaze.

"We've worked hard to keep it that way," Jack replied.

"What's say we join you for a while, offer you some more protection," Rick suggested boldly.

"People need people to survive; you know that… it could work. We could more than contribute in other ways too. You want to ask me how many walkers we've killed? How many..." Rick continued.

"Ain't necessary," Jack cut in, "See, the thing is we have a few rules of our own here."

Beth glanced back at Ryan, his arms were folded defensively and he was looking down at the ground shaking his head, before looking back at up and staring coldly across at Rick. As fond as Beth was of Ryan, she knew how stubborn he was, how strongly he would fight to look out for the people he cared about and he didn't trust easily.

"We don't normally take in new people, but we can make exceptions, however any person caught not to be contributing or causing conflict of any kind, would no longer be welcome," Jack said nodding slowly.

"Oh come on, man," Ryan abruptly cut in, causing Rick, Daryl and the rest of Beth's old group to turn and look in her new friend's direction as he said. "They can't stay here, we don't take strangers, those are the rules. We look after our own."

"They aint strangers," Beth suddenly spoke up, adding, "They're my people."

Ryan turned to look at Beth, "Your people? Well hate to break it to you, blondie, but where were your people when you needed them? Where were they when you were locked up in that hellhole hospital with god damn rapists and psychos? Huh, they weren't so quick to be your people then?" he exclaimed, his face flushing with anger.

Daryl had been composed up until this point, but hearing Ryan saying those words had more than hit a nerve with him. Screwing his face up angrily, feeling his entire body flood with rage, fists clenched he lunged forwards, full of adrenaline and testosterone. No-one was ever going to accuse him of leaving Beth. He had done everything he possibly could to find her back when she had first been taken. She meant more to him than any of them could ever realize.

"No so fast", Rick hissed, holding Daryl back.

The moment diffused, as Daryl looked away quickly realizing nobody could possibly make him feel any worse than he already did for what had happened to the sweet and vulnerable blonde girl he had been protecting after the prison fell. As much as he despised the smug arrogant guy she was with now, he had to admit he would be forever grateful to him for getting Beth back. He wished things had been different and it had been him that had come to her rescue, but the fact that she was alive and well was all that really mattered. Right now he had to keep it together for the rest of his group, if nothing else. They'd been on the road for months, this place was an unexpected sanctuary and could be their only shot now.

...

Unsure where to look, her heart racing, Beth glanced in Ryan's direction for a split second noting the passion in his eyes. She'd had no idea he'd felt so strongly about her people not coming for her at the hospital. In her eyes they hadn't and wouldn't ever abandon her, but they would have had no logical way of knowing where she was, Ryan clearly didn't see it like that though. Beth had never asked him the full story but she had known that he had risked everything to launch a rescue mission for another girl that had previously been held under Dawn at the hospital, when he had found Beth instead.

Beth was also taken aback at the depth of Daryl's feelings too as she looked towards her old friend and secret crush, she knew he had never been great at hiding his emotions, and from his reaction and passionate outburst in response to Ryan's remarks, he was still deeply cut up that he hadn't been able to find her after she was taken.

Jack shifted his focus to his right hand man, "Let's just listen to what they have to say, before coming to any conclusions," he said firmly to Ryan.

Beth relaxed slightly. She knew Jack could think quickly, as well as analyze crisis situations, that was why he had been able to lead them so well here, intentionally repressing fear and anxiety to remain strong for other people.

Daryl retreated back to stand beside Rick again. He didn't care for Ryan, but Jack on the other hand was hard to read; on the surface he seemed like a decent guy, it was clear he was a natural leader, like Rick. But he appeared to be a little more composed, less head strong than Rick could be.

"If you let us stay, we can more than contribute," Rick said again, turning the focus back to his earlier conversation with Jack, an uncomfortable silence following.

Jack looked Rick firmly in the eye some more as he seemed to be debating something internally.

"We can join forces, we can make it work, we can help you protect this place," Rick continued to negotiate slowly, holding his hands up.

Beth felt her stomach churn with even more anxiety; she could feel how tense Ryan was beside Jack still, he wasn't going to drop this. She had also noticed the look on both Rick and Daryl's faces. She could tell Rick trusted his instinct and had decided that joining Jack's group, for now at least, would be a good call. But Beth also knew the groups reluctance to risk taking in strangers, herself being an exception thanks only to Ryan.

"Okay, you can stay for now, but things need to be discussed, I am in charge around here and that is non-negotiable," Jack finally said slowly.

"You have got to be kidding, we're struggling to feed our own without taking on more," Ryan piped up angrily.

"Ryan," Beth pleaded looking directly at him.

"Your sister….." he started.

"Maggie," Beth's older sibling cut in, interrupting the super confident younger guy midway through his sentence.

"…and her guy get to stay, but that's it." Ryan continued loudly, raising his eyebrows.

"You got some kind of problem with us?" Rick said, his attention fully shifted on to Ryan now.

"Got some kind of problem with freeloaders," Ryan said even more loudly, squaring up to Rick a little.

"Yeah, well I got some kind of problem with having my people accused of being freeloaders," Rick responded, the glint in his eye showing he meant business.

"Oh yeah, well I got some kind of problem with assholes," Ryan said moving even closer to Rick.

"Yeah, well as far as I can see there is only one asshole around here," Rick replied, pointing his finger at Ryan.

Beth suddenly felt very uneasy, thinking this really wasn't going to end well. She knew both men and what they were capable of when provoked. How passionate they both were when it came to looking out for the best interests of their people.

Everything then seemed to happen in slow motion, one minute the two men were glaring at each other, the next thing Ryan was charging in Rick's direction striking him with his bare fist, Rick quick to respond with the next punch, Daryl then jumping inbetween them both bearing the brunt of Ryan's raised fist as it came crashing down again this time on to the side of Daryl's face. Causing Rick to launch at Ryan, punching him to the ground, Daryl and Jack both responding quickly pulling the former sheriff off the younger man before things turned really nasty.

Beth watched in horror, her hand flying up to her mouth in shock, taking in the bloodied faces of the three men before her. Before chaos unfolded, Ryan being led away and back to the building he shared with Beth, whilst Rick and Daryl remained outside by the fire, surrounded by the few remaining members of the prison group still up to witness the fight.

…

"You better go and see to Ryan," Isobel said, quickly appearing with a pile of medical supplies handing some to Beth.

"Oh-okay-sure," Beth stammered in response, still a little shaken up, watching as Ryan's beautiful blonde sister strutted over to tend to Rick.

Beth almost allowed herself to breath out a small sigh of relief, taking Isobel's gesture to help Rick as a sign that despite Ryan's attitude Rick and the others had been accepted here.

Still glued to the spot, Beth watched some more as Isobel said something to Beth's former leader and he turned to follow her in to another building.

About to move, Beth swallowed anxiously, glancing around to see out of the corner of her eye Daryl was sitting alone on a step in the distance. Her heart sank a little as she saw blood pouring down his face. Biting her lower lip, digging her nails in to her palm, she turned to make her way over to where he was sat.

...

"Shouldn't you be seeing to your boyfriend?" Daryl said a little gruffly, his eyes glancing up briefly for a moment of fleeting eye contact with the young blonde as she approached him, before he looked away again.

Beth clutched the damp cloth Isobel had handed her moments before tightly in her hand, kneeling down on the ground next to him. "He aint my boyfriend," she said hesitantly, her cheeks flushing pink. Thinking how Ryan was more than capable of patching himself up anyway.

Glancing back at him Beth was sure just for a brief second, she detected a kind of faint smile play across his face, before he pressed his lips together firmly in a straight line and looked away again moodily.

She wondered why Daryl seemed so bothered about her relationship status with Ryan, thinking he was probably just being over protective, more so than he had been back at the prison, due to the newly formed bond between them they had established when they had been alone together. Despite his occasional moodiness, Daryl cared about her and he wanted to look out for her, that much was very apparent to Beth.

She leaned over, gently pressing the cold damp cloth to his bloody wound. He didn't object as she proceeded to work in silence, carefully wiping away the blood from his face. Her touch instantly calming Daryl, providing him with a strange sense of comfort, no-one had ever treated his wounds so tenderly like this before and there had been some far nastier incidents in his life than the grapple with Ryan and Rick earlier. Beth was tending to him with such concern and care, he would have hated to admit it, but it made him feel warm inside as he allowed her to continue cleaning up the side of his forehead with her soft delicate fingers.

"It looks worse than it is, it's just a superficial wound you won't need stitches," Beth said softly, concentration etched on her face, removing the bloodied cloth, reaching for a towel to gently pat it dry. Remembering how she had recently been taught to treat head wounds.

"Since when did you become Florence Nightingale?" Daryl quipped back sarcastically, trying to counteract the sensation of slight embarrassment hitting him, needing to have a girl take care of him like this.

"Oh, I –I, had some training," Beth mumbled back flustered, sweeping her hair away from her eye.

Daryl didn't push it further, settling instead for watching her intently as she removed the wrapper on a small white dressing, his eyes curious and confused. When he had last seen her she was still so vulnerable, just a young girl, here now despite only months passing, she looked and acted at least five years older, she was more confident, stronger, like a woman. He wondered just what exactly had happened to her at the hospital.

Beth lightly placed the dressing down on to the side of Daryl's head, brushing aside his long dark hair as she stuck the far corners down on his hot skin, causing Daryl again to take a small thrill at her touch as she pressed gently on his sensitive spots, causing him to wince a little.

"Sorry," Beth muttered, her bright blue eyes meeting his straight on, she hadn't meant to hurt him.

Without saying anything Daryl looked back at her and just from his look Beth could tell she hadn't caused him any pain, he might not have done a great job at vocalising it, but he was grateful she'd come to him and he was happy that she cared.

"There you go, should be okay in a couple of days," Beth said finishing off, before turning to sink down on to the step next to him. Thinking how now she was done, she really ought to leave him alone, it was getting late. But there was just something drawing her to the moment.

Daryl seemed in no rush to move either as he remained sat on the step, drinking in the cool night air, he wasn't used to it. It was so peaceful, so calm.

Beth wrapped her arms around her knees, hugging them to her chest, drawing in a deep breath as she said, "The sky is so pretty at this time of night, don't ya think? You can see every star in the sky."

Daryl didn't respond at first, moments like this being out of his comfort zone, there had been no time for mindless star gazing over the course of his life. But he had to admit, looking upwards at the dazzling balls of light filling the night sky, she was right there was something magical in it.

"I guess," he eventually mumbled.

A silence followed, before Beth slowly found herself edging a little closer to her ruggedly handsome friend so that their legs were almost touching, before eventually finding herself nestling her head on to his strong muscular shoulder too.

They stayed like that for a while, and it felt almost as it had when it had just been the two of them alone together after the prison. Daryl stiffening up a little awkwardly at first, he wasn't good with physical contact and displays of affection, before he slowly relaxed, enjoying the feel of her soft warm body connecting with his, and unable to stop himself he found his arm loosely draping itself around the small of her back in a way he wasn't entirely used to.

"I'm glad you're here," Beth said a little dreamily, "It's better now you're here," pausing, before saying, "I've really missed you, Daryl Dixon."

Daryl wanted to respond, to tell her he had missed her too, that he had never felt such an intense rush of happiness as he had earlier that morning when he'd first seen her face again. But instead again all he could do was turn his head and look at her. Beth blinked, her clear blue eyes shimmering, looking back at him. His eyes were so expressive so full of emotion, he didn't have to say anything she knew he felt the same.

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><p><strong>AN - Thanks for reading. Hope you liked this chapter. So, Ryan might seem like the bad guy at the moment, but, he is about to redeem himself and Beth will be facing a dilemma coming up ;o I also have a sub plot planned for Rick.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N - Thanks SO much for the amazing reviews. I am really glad people are enjoying my story. Okay a little warning, this chapter gets pretty intense towards the end. Hope that's okay with everyone, it wouldn't be the TWD without a little action, right?**

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><p>"The Archer is back," Ryan said as he strode in to the room.<p>

"Oh," was all Beth could mumble, looking up from where she had been lying on her front on the sofa, writing in her journal, her blonde ponytail falling over her face as an uneasy feeling hit her.

A couple of days had passed since the incident with Ryan, Rick and Daryl, but there was still a slight atmosphere between her and the guy that had rescued her from the hospital months before, her friend Ryan. Beth could only put it down to her split loyalties. She cared for them all. Ryan would just have to accept that.

She looked across at him as he walked further in to their living space, dressed in a casual shirt and jeans he reached for a backpack, his right hand still bandaged from the fight with Rick. There was no denying he was gorgeous, distractingly gorgeous. Tall and very physically fit with dirty blonde hair and piercing green eyes. Up until recently Beth had taken a small thrill every time Ryan had walked in to the room. Part of her wondering whether one day they could be more than just good friends? If she could only bring herself to let go and allow herself to develop stronger feelings for him, she knew he would treat her right, they could be happy.

But now her old group were back, everything had changed.

Ryan might be incredibly good-looking, but he knew it too, he carried himself with an air of confidence that could border on arrogance, Beth could see that now. He'd probably had females falling at his feet all his life. Somehow that character trait didn't seem too attractive to Beth anymore.

"I know you were looking for him earlier, after he drove off," Ryan continued, shovelling a bottle of water, compass and map in to his bag, his eyes down focused on what he was doing, rather than looking over at Beth.

"So, I thought you'd want to know he and the sheriff are back now. They had to shout in for the code to the gate." He added smugly.

Beth set her journal down and sat up. She had gone across to speak to Daryl earlier that morning. When she couldn't find him, Carl had told her he had gone out with Rick and some of the others. Beth presumed it was to hunt for supplies. But she hadn't seen him to ask.

"Where ya going?" she said to Ryan, her eyes fixed on him, as much as his recent behaviour infuriated her she didn't want to lose him as a friend.

She had seen firsthand on many occasions, despite how he could come across as a jackass and liked to play the tough guy what a good person Ryan actually was, how many lives he had saved. He was invaluable to her new group.

"Going out with some of the guys to check on some tracks we laid, don't know when I'll be back," he said gruffly, turning to walk out the room.

…...

"I brought you some coffee, it's only long lasting instant," Beth said smiling as she approached Daryl's place, noticing the wound on his head was healing nicely as he opened the door to her, clumsily pulling his shirt down indicating he had been in the middle of getting changed.

Daryl had been coming and going since he and the others had settled at her new home, and Beth hadn't seen much of him since the night of the fight.

"Um…thanks," he muttered in response.

Looking up as the inviting smell of coffee hit him, Daryl's eyes came to rest on the beautiful young woman in front of him, as he reached out to take the hot drink from her. He'd never been a big coffee drinker, but he'd take it now. Anything had to beat badly filtered lukewarm water.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" Beth said shyly after an uncomfortable pause.

"Sure, come in," he said, holding the door open to her.

He couldn't help it, he checked her out as she crossed the threshold and entered the small house he had been sharing with Rick and Carol. Beth was wearing a simple white t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans that really hugged her hips and behind, a behind that Daryl was almost caught staring at when Beth turned around to face him. She flashed a cute smile his way, trying to break though the awkwardness of being alone together again after their recent display of innocent affection the night she had patched him up after the fight.

"You been out?" she said politely.

"Yeah – yeah," he stammered trying to get his thoughts back to his recent trip.

"Just went to stake out some places for supplies. "Didn't find much though…still getting to grips with the area," he said pausing to look at her, she was casually leaning back against the side watching him. In the days when the old group had all been together back at the prison camp, exchanges like this between him and Beth would have been unthinkable.

Beth didn't say anything at first; she wasn't quite sure why she was bothered, why she felt a tad hurt that the group didn't ask her to accompany them on their trips. She knew Maggie went sometimes and Carol too. But they obviously thought she was too weak, too much trouble.

"You okay?" Daryl said snapping her out of whatever deep thought she'd been trapped in.

She looked over at him, not entirely pleased, "Y'know I could have come along too," she said folding her arms loosely.

"It's not like the prison here, I don't just sit around and babysit now. I'm useful in other ways too. I can take care of myself out there; I've killed walkers, lot's of em... I don't need anyone to take care of me, I aint a burden no more," she exclaimed, a depth of passion in her voice. Dawn had said to her once that in this life now, Beth would either end up dead or be a burden to someone. Beth knew that was bullshit and she had vowed every single day since to prove Dawn wrong; she would never be a burden to anyone again.

Daryl watched her listening, but Beth was done she didn't want to say anymore. Afraid her outburst would turn in to an even more embarrassing display of emotion if she continued.

"I know," Daryl said nodding slowly, the sincerity in his voice making Beth believe he wasn't just saying it to be kind.

Daryl knew Beth was tougher than she looked, but the thought of her out there now with the world the way it was terrified him. He'd seen first hand how she could take out walkers, but walkers weren't the main threat anymore. Beth was a rare innocent beauty with her light blonde hair, big blue eyes and doll like features, and that was an extremely dangerous thing in the world these days. He shuddered when he thought about what could have happened to her had she been with him when he had stumbled across the claimed crew. He knew he would have died to protect her back then, now being no different either. But Daryl also knew he wouldn't always be able to protect her, and for that reason alone he'd prefer to think of her safely back in a walled community rather than out in the bleak unknown on the road.

…...

"Coffee? You must be parched after your trip," Isobel said smiling, walking up to join Rick where he was sat on a step playing with baby Judith. Upon seeing the attractive blonde Rick carefully put his daughter down, watching as she toddled off to see her brother Carl who was stood nearby.

"Umm..sure," Rick stammered, taken aback, glancing from the steaming drink in her hand to her face.

Rick would be lying if he had said she hadn't caught his eye before, she was hot, damn hot.

"It is real, I promise, but it's only instant and black," she continued, in response to Rick's slightly shocked face.

"Uh-okay, well, instant and black is good to me, ain't seen no starbucks around here for a while," he said with a shy grin, taking the cup from her.

Putting it to his lips he sipped slowly, "Never knew coffee could taste so good," he said raising his eyebrows. Gone were the days of popping out for double caramel lattes whilst out on the job back when he'd been a cop, back when the world hadn't gone to shit.

He reached down to see his baby daughter had made her way back over to him, putting his drink down he scooped her up and in to his arms.

"She's beautiful, looks just like you, she has your eyes," Isobel said kindly, holding her finger out to gently touch the little girl, causing Judith to smile back at her in return.

"Hey, Dad, look it's a dog," Carl suddenly said excitedly from where he'd been stood to the side of them, causing both Rick and Isobel to turn and see a large stray dog was stood staring back at them intensely from the other side of the fence.

Two soft chocolate brown eyes, fixed intently on Carl from under a shaggy mop of dark fur. Carl grinned and slowly put his hand out to touch the animal's face.

"Not so fast," Isobel said quickly a look of panic spreading across her face.

"It's okay, he's friendly," Carl said, looking up, "Can we let him in?...Please," he said, looking across and pleading with Rick.

"He looks starving." Carl added, his eyes on his father.

"I – uh, don't think that's such a good idea, son," Rick said, unsure of exactly how to respond, looking at the desperate look on his boy's face.

It had been a long time since they had seen a dog and Rick knew how much Carl missed Tom their old pet family dog. But Rick also knew as harmless as it seemed, this dog was far from being a family pet.

"Stay away from it," Isobel said again, more urgently this time.

"We can't let it in, these are wild animals they may have been domestic pets once but not any more. Out here they are pack animals now, nothing more than feral beasts and very unpredictable," she added firmly.

"You heard the lady," Rick said, his tone meaning business.

Carl didn't say anything more, just withdrew his hand from the dog, looking away sulkily.

Rick patted him on the shoulder, he hated to disappoint his boy, but he knew Isobel was right.

"Listen, why don't you take Judith and go and find Beth," Rick said in a calmer voice. Watching as his son reluctantly led his younger sister away by the hand.

"You have two really great kids there, you must be very proud," Isobel said to Rick as they both sat watching them still.

"Thanks, they are pretty amazing," Rick replied proudly, turning his gaze back to the women before him.

She opened her mouth to say something further, but all he could focus on was her face, he found himself mesmerised as he gazed at Isobel's perfect symmetrical features looking back at him. It had been a while since anyone had paid him this much attention and not since Lori had he looked at a woman in this way. As much as he wanted to stay true to his late wife's memory, Rick couldn't deny his carnal urges. Isobel's image was near on perfect, she was dressed in jeans and a tight black top showing off her impressive cleavage, her golden blonde hair was wrapped up on top of her head and her wide dreamy come to bed eyes, with flecks of green and hazel were connecting fully with his, her lips full and glossy looked more than ready to whisper a multitude of erotic thoughts to him.

"You okay? You were miles away," he heard her say looking intently at him.

"Umm..yeah, sorry you were saying?" He replied, his cheeks flushing, slightly embarrassed that she had had him so distracted and a strange sensation came over him. There was something about her face, her eyes in particular that really got under his skin, like she had him under a spell.

"I was just asking if Jack had given you the code to the gate yet?" she repeated with a reassuring smile.

"Nah, nah, not yet," Rick replied.

"Oh, well he will soon. He likes you, I can tell, you'll win his trust in no time," she responded her face warming.

Rick opened his mouth to say something further, moving a little closer to her and setting his coffee cup down on the step. When all of a sudden they were interrupted by what sounded like a piercing child's scream, followed by frantic yelling.

"Carl," Rick said urgently, switching instantly in to survival mode, leaping up and racing to follow the screams, followed closely by Isobel.

"I'm sorry, Dad. I didn't realize," Carl said as they found him, tears streaming down his cheeks, his face full of panic.

Rick eyes swept over from Carl, to where Beth was leant down cradling a bloodied Judith on the ground, then to his horror just to the side of her he saw the large lifeless body of a fierce looking straggly dog with an arrow straight through it's head….

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><p><strong>AN – Sorry for the major cliff-hanger, next chapter up very soon! **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N - Thanks again for the reviews, you guys Rock! I don't know how I found time to update, but I really wanted to before the holidays. **

**A few people have asked about my OC. This is the first time I have written OC in fanfiction, so I hope they are okay, any feedback would be appreciated. Just for some more background.**

**_Ryan - Is in his late 20's. He is tall, muscular with dark blonde/light brown hair, green eyes and very handsome. Don't have an exact celeb in mind at the moment. Maybe Jamie Dornan._**

**_Isobel- Ryan's sister a few years older than Ryan. Tall, blonde with hazel/green eyes very strikingly beautiful, think Charlize Theron or Katherine Heigl._**

**_Jack - Late 30's. Dark cropped hair, handsome, think Matthew Fox._**

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><p>Beth looked around with blurry vision, barely able to process the scene unfolding before her eyes, trying to wrap her head around what had just happened. One minute she had been casually chatting to Daryl, the next she had heard a dog growling and baby Judith screaming. Daryl had acted so fast. Seemingly in one swift movement he had picked up his crossbow fired it and shot the beast clean through the head, causing it to topple backwards and away from Judith.<p>

Feeling a surge of panic building in her chest, Beth cradled the small injured child tightly in her arms, blood oozing out of a deep wound on the little girl's face, seeping on to Beth's t-shirt causing a bright red patch to spread across the white fabric. "Isobel, you gotta do something, she's been bit, you gotta…now..she aint breathing, she…" Beth said, stumbling on the words as they fell out of her mouth so quickly, her eyes looking up and flitting from Isobel to Rick to Daryl. Her breathing slowing down slightly with the relief of seeing Rick and the older blonde woman. Maybe Judith would be okay, now they were here.

"Judith, Judith..." Rick yelled, prizing her out of Beth's arms, scooping his injured child up and in to his own arms, fear set deeply in his pale blue eyes as they welled with tears of panic.

"Quick, we got to take her inside," Isobel said loudly, hurriedly assessing the situation, Beth nodding in agreement.

"We got to do something, she's bleeding, we need help. Help!," Rick yelled even louder, looking around in complete dismay, feeling utterly helpless and unable to do anything for his young daughter, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead as he noticed a small crowd forming around them alerted by the noise.

"Let me look at her, Rick. We need to get her inside," Isobel said again calmly, placing her hand on his arm, ushering them over to the small building that Rick and Daryl were currently staying in.

Turning to look back at Beth, taking a more frantic tone, she said, "Ryan, where is Ryan?"

Beth bit down on her lip anxiously, "I, err..dunno, he went out," she stammered.

"Where?...Think, Beth, where did he go? Because we're going to need him," Isobel snapped back at Beth her voice full of panic now.

Beth swallowed, twisting her hands together, thinking back to her earlier conversation with Ryan, "He said he was going hunting or something," she said shakily, her heart pounding, her eyes moving from Isobel's searching face to poor baby Judith.

Feeling a lump forming in her throat, Beth suddenly felt a warm gentle hand touch her bare forearm, turning to see Daryl flash her a reassuring and comforting look, instantly calming her.

"Did he say where?" Isobel said to Beth again, as they all urgently entered the house. Beth and Daryl closely following Rick and Isobel as they rushed in to the bedroom. Rick gently laying Judith down on to the double bed that he had been sharing with his two children the past few nights.

"Umm….no, I don't think so," Beth responded, desperately trying to remember what Ryan had said to her earlier, she had been so distracted she hadn't paid that much attention.

Isobel didn't quiz her further. Instead tucking a strand of her golden blonde hair behind her ear, her striking green eyes continued examining the injured young toddler, leaning over her deep in concentration.

_Come on, Isobel, come on, do something'_, Beth silently willed from where she was stood hand to mouth in the entrance to the room watching her friend trying to help Judith. Daryl still by her side, both watching in horror as the little girl struggled more and more to breath.

"She's through there," a male voice suddenly said. Loud footsteps approaching as everyone turned to see Jack and Ryan rushing in to the room.

"Out the way," Ryan shouted, pushing past Beth and Daryl violently.

Stepping back and out of the way, Beth had never seen her friend looking so deadly serious as he rushed to the wounded child, and she had seen him under pressure many times. At the sight of her brother, Isobel's face instantly relaxed, whilst Daryl's eyes narrowed suspiciously and Rick's filled with anger.

"Out the way," Ryan repeated, this time pushing Rick to one side firmly with his hand.

"What the hell," Rick said raising his voice, glaring at the younger man, squaring up to him.

"Let him in," Jack said, holding Rick back.

"He can help her, Rick," Isobel reassured, resting her eyes on the troubled face of the man she had found herself kind of flirting with earlier that day.

"What happened?" Ryan said washing his hands quickly in a bowl of water to the side of the bed.

"Attacked by a savage dog, it was put down quickly, she's still breathing but losing consciousness, I think she may have a punctured lung and her left eye has been mauled," Isobel reeled off, adding, "I've not done anything yet."

"Okay, listen, Iz, I'm going to need you to go as fast as you can to the locked cabinet in the medical building, get me a shot of antibiotic prophylaxis, a suture kit, iodine, pure alcohol and antiseptic wipes and get everyone out," Ryan said addressing his sister calmly, "Except Beth," he added, glancing back to see the younger blonde woman stood behind his sister.

Beth walked across to where he was stood over Judith, "Okay, Beth, I'm going to need you to hold her very still, just like I showed you, remember?" Ryan ordered slowly. Beth just nodded her pulse racing some more.

Taking a deep breath, looking down at the face of the little princess she had practically raised since birth, Beth breathed a silent sight of relief, she knew Judith wasn't out of the woods yet, but she also knew if anyone could save her, it was Ryan.

"Okay, I think I managed to get everything you asked for," Isobel said, quickly returning in to the room her arms full, handing her brother a stethoscope.

Beth looked on in awe at how calmly they both worked under these circumstances as Ryan listened for Judith's heartbeat, a tense silence filling the room. Before he said, "What the hell was a feral dog doing in here anyway?"

"Carl let it in?" Isobel replied.

"Who the hell is Carl?" Ryan said, nodding to himself as he removed the stethoscope.

….

"Get him out," Rick said charging for the closed door to the room his baby daughter was in.

"No, stay back," Jack said, catching Daryl's eye exchanging a knowing look.

"He's right, man," Daryl said, assisting the leader of their new camp as they forcefully led the troubled sheriff over to the old battered sofas in the corner of the room.

Daryl wasn't quite sure what was going on but he knew from the look on Beth's face, that Ryan meant business. That he could be Judith's only shot. He didn't know the guy well enough to trust him. But he knew Beth and he trusted her with his life.

"Sit down," Jack said, his eyes boring in to Rick, until Rick reluctantly complied. "It might just be your lucky day," Jack added, cocking his head towards the closed bedroom door. "Ryan is a pediatric surgeon, was one of the most promising young doctors in the state. So just let him do his thing. Okay. Now, I'm going to give you guys some space, but know this, she is in the best hands," he finished, turning to walk out the door.

Rick's eyes widened, staring off in to space as he allowed himself to sit back in to the chair, winding his fingers deeply it to his tangled wavy hair, breathing out, his pupils fixed on an unknown object in front of him as he slowly breathed in and out. He was good under pressure, always had been, but this, this was a whole new ball game, this was his precious young child in the hands of a man who up until moments before he had detested, who had detested him. All Rick could do now was pray.

Daryl wasn't quite sure why he was surprised. He had known from the way Ryan had acted that he must have had some important job, the way people treated him around here, they looked up to him, respected him, Daryl had gathered he must be a big deal of some sorts. Ryan was in no way Daryl's favourite person, but he just had a feeling that Beth's new friend would come through for them now. He had to.

Reaching out his hand he loosely patted Rick on the shoulder. "It'll be okay, man," he said in a low voice. Daryl could feel his leader's pain radiating out of him, projecting back on to Daryl as they sat in silence. Usually Daryl wasn't good in these situations, but he knew on some level now he had to step up, stay strong. This was Judith, the lil asskicker, she might be Rick's flesh and blood, but in a weird way she was all of their baby, plus he hadn't forgotten what Rick had said to him the night they had met up again after the prison. They were brothers now.

After a while, with the two men still sat in tense silence, voices could be heard more clearly from the other side of the door. Causing both Rick and Daryl to sit up, alert. The door slowly opening, their eyes looking on expectantly as Beth walked through.

She didn't need to say anything, from the look in her eye Daryl knew it was going to be okay. The one thing he had learnt from Beth Greene in his time with her, was that she was unable to hide anything from him. She was a terrible liar and far too trusting, but that also meant that there was no bullshit with her.

Beth moved quickly as Rick leapt to his feet, his eyes searching the blonde girl's face desperately. "She's stable," Beth said breaking in to a small nervous smile, "She aint got a punctured lung and she's breathing okay, he doesn't think there are any internal injuries."

Rick brought both hands up to his face, palms together as he breathed in to them, "The eye?" he suddenly said, removing his hands, remembering that there had been a wound to her left eye.

Beth hesitated, and from where he was watching her Daryl suddenly felt his stomach drop as he anticipated what she was going to say next. She clasped her hands together, "He's cleaned it up, but the wound is deep and swollen, he thinks he might need to operate on it...to save it. He's just suturing up a wound on her thigh then he'll come out and talk to you."

The relieved look on Rick's face quickly faded back in to one of deep worry again. "It's going to be okay, Rick," Beth said, moving slightly further towards him, catching Daryl's eye for a split second as an unspoken look of mutual concern passed between them, before she turned back to Rick, "She's alive," Beth added in a soft reassuring voice.

"Here," Daryl said producing a bottle of water, handing it to Rick.

Rick pushed it away with his hand. Shaking his head again, looking around the room.

"Take it, Rick," Beth said firmly, snatching the bottle from Daryl and pressing it in to his palm, "You need to drink, Judith's relying on you."

Reluctantly Rick unscrewed the top, putting the bottle to his lips and swigging slowly. "Carl," he said in almost a whisper as he wiped his mouth, screwing the top back on the bottle.

"He's fine, he's with Michonne," Daryl responded, watching as Rick nodded, the same blank expressionless look appearing on his face again.

Beth bit her lip and slowly squeezed down on to the small sofa where Daryl was sat, her thigh and hip brushing in to his. He flinched, but didn't move at first, allowing Beth to feel a small shiver at the contact, before he awkwardly repositioned himself away from her a little. Turning to look at her, he mumbled, "You okay?"

Beth didn't say anything in response. Her eyes heating up, her lip trembling, she just looked away gently nodding, brushing her hair back and away from her face. She tried not to cry anymore, she didn't want to be seen as weak any longer, but there was something about the kindness and genuine concern for her in Daryl's dark blue eyes that made her want to drop her guard a little, he made her feel safe, like she mattered again, like it was okay to cry with him.

As much as she was trying to be strong, the trauma of almost losing the little girl Beth had loved as her own just as she had got her back again, was all too much for her and she found herself brushing a small tear away from the side of her face with the back of her hand. Hoping Daryl hadn't seen, she looked down at the ground. Before he then did something completely unexpected, slowly reaching for her hand, wrapping it in his comfortingly, loosely at first almost as though he was testing her reaction, before gripping it more tightly.

Beth found herself smiling inwardly from the comfort of his touch again, remembering how he never failed to surprize her. And they sat in silence, neither of them having to say a word, both feeling the other relaxing a little, they were there for each other. Judith was tough they knew that, she would pull through this, they all would.

After a while Daryl cleared his throat about to say something, but before he could he was interrupted, the door to the bedroom bursting open again, this time Ryan walking out, wiping his hands on a towel.

Instantly, Beth, Rick and Daryl were all on their feet. Just as the front door to the building opened too and Michonne, Carl, Carol, Maggie and Glenn burst in with Jack and a couple of other people from the new group.

It was Michonne that spoke first," How is she?"

"She's stable, I've done all I can for her for now," Ryan answered, meeting Rick's eye, his voice sounding different, more serious.

Rick held his gaze for a second, before reaching out his hand and offering it to the younger man. Slowly the two shook hands.

"I owe you," Rick said.

"Nah, you don't owe me anything, just doing what I can, man," Ryan said looking away.

"Her eye?" Rick questioned.

"She's resting now, but when she wakes I'll need to take her down to the medical wing, I'm going to need to operate on it," Ryan responded.

"But you can save it?" Rick questioned desperately.

"I'm hopeful and I'll do everything I can," Ryan replied.

Rick nodded, looking up to see Isobel had appeared next to her brother, she gestured for Rick to follow her, putting her finger up to her lips to silence him as they disappeared in to the room his young daughter was in.

From where she was stood, Beth turned to look at Ryan. He had both hands on the back of his head and he looked pained as he exhaled dramatically. His handsome chiselled features full of stress.

"Thanks," she said in a gentle voice as she looked at him.

Looking back at her, his eyes softened, and for once Ryan was lost for words, despite his confidence he looked genuinely moved. Before he quickly said, "I just need to go and check on a few things," turning to walk out the room.

"Wait," Beth said, following him, instinctively throwing her arms around his strong neck, burying her face in to his chest, causing him to let out a small sigh, bringing his hand up to touch the back of her hair.

Breaking apart, Beth suddenly felt a little embarrassed realizing they had an audience; the room was full of people. She smoothed down her hair and glanced around.

"Beth, can I see Judith too?" Carl said eagerly looking her way, snapping her back to reality.

Beth hesitated, "Sure," she said with a smile, reaching out her hand to take him in to the room his father and sister were in.

…..

Moments later, Judith still sleeping, Beth stepped back in to the main living room with Carl, Rick and Isobel. She noticed the room was still full of their friends all waiting to hear news of their little girl. As Rick approached them the buzz of the conservation grew louder, as they all rushed to group around him, offering support.

Beth stepped back quietly, her eyes scanning the room, in all the excitement she had forgotten about Daryl. But looking around she could see he wasn't there.

"You okay?" Maggie suddenly said appearing by her side.

"Daryl," Beth muttered flustered.

Maggie looked a little taken aback, as though she hadn't quite been expecting her younger sister to say that.

"He-uh-I think he took off a moment ago," Maggie replied.

"Oh," was all Beth could stammer back, confused by her feelings. Judith had nearly died and Ryan had saved her life, Rick had nearly lost it again and Beth had never felt so afraid. But the only thing that Beth wanted now was the gruff redneck, she had grown so unexpectedly close to…

**A/N - Thanks for reading, any reviews would be very much appreciated :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N - I can't believe the interest in this story so far! Over 100 followers. Thank you so much for the support and sorry for the delay in updating!Hope you like this chapter, it was really hard to write, but a little drama is good, right?**

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><p>Beth found Ryan in the kitchen leaning back against one of the worktops, his head was bowed slightly and he was pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger.<p>

Tentatively she cleared her throat, alerting him to her presence, before she moved a little closer in his direction. She was aware that he was mentally preparing himself to operate on baby Judith, that the outcome of the operation could well determine whether the little girl kept her sight, or at the very least her eye. Ryan had briefly explained to Beth the day before that due to the swelling on her upper lid, it was impossible to assess the damage properly until it had gone down, that she would need to be put under a general anaesthetic before he could tell precisely what needed to be done, whether the laceration had effected the cornea and her sight and how badly. It was serious.

"You okay? You need anything?" Beth said, as she looked across at her friend, her eyes wide and alert.

"Nah, I'm good," he replied quietly.

Beth's eyes widened some more as she studied his face, this was out of character. He looked on edge, nervous even, and she had never seen him like this before. He was normally so composed, so super confident and unfazed by everything.

A brief silence fell as Ryan continued to be trapped in his thoughts, he might physically be stood in the kitchen with Beth, but mentally he was somewhere else entirely. He knew he had a lot of people counting on him to keep it together, to lead them and be the hero he always was, both before and after the outbreak. He had performed surgeries on kids all the time in his old life as a surgeon, even some in his new life. But on this occasion he felt full of nerves, despite his differences with her father there was something about this little girl that got to him, he couldn't screw it up, he just couldn't, she needed him and she was important to all of them.

"You can do this, Ryan," Beth said firmly, reading his mind.

He didn't answer at first just looked back at the pretty blonde girl he had grown so fond of since he had found her back in Atlanta at the Grady Hospital. Beth was different to other pretty girls he'd known, she was beautiful on the inside too, she was sweet and had real empathy as well as a sort of brightness to her that was so rare to find these days, he had sensed it the minute he had laid eyes on her.

"Can I?" He eventually responded a tad shakily, his eyes meeting hers.

Beth swallowed, waiting for him to come out with some funny sarcastic afterthought, but he didn't, he just looked at her. He had never been so open with her before, vulnerable even, he was normally such a smart ass, so strong and sure of himself. "Yes, you can," she replied boldly, "I've seen the things you can do, you saved those kids that got smashed up in their car and you saved Kate's arm and you…

He held his hand up to stop her, he wasn't a hero he was just doing what he was good at, what he had studied and practiced all his adult life, skills that were in high demand now the world had gone to shit, any of his old colleagues would have done the same.

"That was different, I knew what I was doing then," he said, "But this, I'm not an ophthalmologist, I'm a pediatric surgeon. I've not done anything like this before. I mean, I've seen it done and assisted, but that was in a sterile operating room with a team of surgical staff and resources to call on, an anaesthetist.." he broke off.

"You've got Isobel," Beth cut in.

"Isobel isn't an anaesthetist," he replied shaking his head.

Beth's eyes swept across his face, she could feel her stomach knotting in to nerves too, nothing about this was ideal, but she needed to stay strong and she needed him to stay strong for Judith. She put her arm up to touch his forearm gently gripping the fabric of his shirt as she said, "You know you can do this, it's going to be okay, Judith's going to be okay," her eyes flashing reassuringly at him.

He nodded in slow agreement, and slowly she found her hand move further up his arm, as he drew her in to a comforting hug, exhaling out slowly in to her neck. When they were suddenly interrupted by an awkward cough to the side of the room, causing them to break apart and look over to see who had joined them.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything? Just wanted a quick word," Rick said awkwardly looking from Beth to Ryan. He had knocked but there had been no reply.

"Uh- I was just leaving, " Beth said quickly moving away from Ryan.

"Well, I just stopped by to say I appreciate what you're doing for us, and, I know we didn't get off to the best of starts, but ... that's my baby girl, don't let anything happen to her," Rick said addressing Ryan, his voice thick with emotion.

"I'll do everything I can," Ryan said sincerely.

...

Daryl was on his own, tucked away by some trees testing out the engine on his newly acquired motor cycle a vehicle that had been abandoned at the new safe zone his group had temporarily joined. People there had said that it had died and they couldn't get it going again, but within a couple of hours of fiddling with it when they had first arrived, Daryl had it sorted.

Looking up, out of the corner of his eye he suddenly spotted Beth walking towards him. He didn't say anything or acknowledge her, instead he just continued revving the engine on his newly found ride, his bare muscular arm gripping the handle as he avoided eye contact with the young blonde. Eventually turning the engine off to face her, realizing she was trying to say something to him that he couldn't hear over the noise.

"I said…I've been looking for ya," Beth said, glancing at him making fleeting eye contact. Noticing there was something different about him, he seemed a little aloof, distant even.

"Just been working on getting this thing started," he said wiping his hands on a rag and looking at the ground.

"Well, Ryan and Isobel are operating on Judith's eye, a few of us were going to go and sit with Rick," she said hesitantly gauging his reaction. She'd wanted to see if he wanted to join them, he'd just kind of disappeared over the past 24 hours since Judith's condition had stabilised. His brief absence from the group had been noticeable and Beth had missed him.

"Uh, huh...Well, I was going to go out for a ride, some place I wanted to stake out again," he replied, his expression blank and unreadable.

"Oh," Beth said, fiddling with a loose strand of her hair, before blurting out shyly, "You want some company?" Instantly regretting it when she saw the look on his face and he shifted uncomfortably on the spot. W_hat was she thinking?_

He cleared his throat, avoiding eye contact again as he mumbled, "Probably be quicker on my own."

Beth nodded, "Okay," she gulped, her cheeks turning pink. She wasn't quite sure why that stung so much but it did. She felt stupid and a tad rejected, she knew Carol had gone out on his bike with him already, so she had naively thought he might have liked it if she did too. Just the two of them again.

She didn't honestly know what she had expected though, she had known he was in a weird mood the moment she had approached him. She also knew only too well that he could be moody, quiet and cold when he had stuff on his mind. And there was definitely a slight atmosphere between them, not entirely unfriendly, it just reminded Beth of how they had interacted back at the prison. Friendly enough, but a little forced and awkward, not close in anyway. They'd never have had a real heartfelt conversation then, not like the ones they'd had on many occasions back when they had been alone together in the woods.

Looking at him now, Beth wanted to ask Daryl if she had done something to annoy him, but she thought better of it. She wasn't the centre of the world. Daryl was probably just worried sick about Judith; he loved that little girl, they all did.

Twisting her hands together, she boldly took a step closer to him and trying to sweeten the tense atmosphere, she said, "I think it's gonna be okay, Daryl. I think Judith will be fine."

Daryl couldn't help himself then, it was as though he had no control over the words about to spill out of his mouth. With his eyes flashing angrily, a deep scowl appeared on his face as he said, "Yeah, well you want to know what I think? I think your hotshot Doctor friend there, ain't gonna be able to save the day this time." Quickly turning his back to, so as to avoid seeing the look of hurt he knew would be appearing in her eyes.

"What is your problem?" Beth said raising her voice, her face reddening as she placed one hand on her hip, glaring at his back. She had forgotten how infuriating he could be sometimes, how much his words could hurt when he was in a dark mood.

"My problem?" he replied, turning back to face her, lifting his eyebrows, pointing his finger towards her face as he continued, "My problem, is that the world aint all sweetness and light, it never was before and it sure as hell aint now. People get sick, kids get sick and they don't always get better, things can't always be fixed. There ain't some magic wand you can wave to make it all better. Bad things happen all the time. The sooner you realize that the better, because you just need to deal with it…" he finished, looking her deep in the eye this time.

"You think I don't know bad things happen? " Beth yelled back when he was done. Pausing as they both continued to look at each other. She wanted to say some more, to scream at him everything she had been through, to remind him of all the people and things she had lost too, that someone had to keep positive and optimistic or they would all break down. But she knew it wouldn't do any good, so instead shaking slightly, she simply turned and walked away.

**Thanks for reading would love to hear a review if you have time. And please don't hate on Daryl too much, he is hurting for a number of different reasons right now and as we all know he doesn't deal with that too well, but he will make it up to Beth soon. **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N - THANK YOU so much again for the reviews and support for last chapter. I am really getting in to this story now. I do have a plan for it, but I would LOVE to hear anyone's ideas, suggestions for what they would like to see happen. **

**Okay, this chapter is all about our fav, Daryl, enjoy :)**

**(I confess, I haven't done a final sweep for any errors, as wanted to get this chap out while I had the chance and still haven't sorted out a beta!)**

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><p>Daryl sped down the deserted highway, the wind whipping through his hair as he picked up speed. The road ahead was long and he had no idea where he was headed. But right now it didn't matter.<p>

At that moment all that mattered to Daryl was getting away, losing himself completely in the moment.

Nothing felt quite like riding a motorcycle to him. The thrill of being at one with a two wheeled machine, the risks involved often heightening the enjoyment for him. It had been a long time since he had felt this free.

Racing on, he thought about what could happen if he never turned back. It had been a relief to find some sort of civilisation again, but really and truly did he fit in there?

Before the turn he had been nothing but some redneck asshole, white trash despised by most of society. Why should that be any different once he was no longer needed for his hunting, fighting and survival skills? What use would he be to anyone then? He thought, visualising his future now.

His eyes straight ahead he rode further and further away from where he had come from.

Riding out alone in the middle of no-where, reminded Daryl a little of his life before the outbreak. Back in those days in a completely different way, there had been times so awful that the only way he could escape was to take off on his own out in to the unknown for a ride, often for days at a time. Not that anyone would have noticed much back then. But it had always been a good way for Daryl to clear his head, to get some perspective on what really mattered, on where he was going.

But he'd slowly come to realize that when he ran, he was only running from himself.

The person he had been before the turn was gone. The angry introverted guy that used to mindlessly follow his older brother around, hadn't been a true reflection of who he really was, Daryl could see that now. His true self having slowly been emerging ever since he had had hooked up with his new family.

Daryl's life right now couldn't be more different to his old life. He was more than aware that his absence these days would be very much noticed if he took off for a while. He had somehow in this new crazy world, managed to find people that cared about him, loved him even, a place where up until now he had fit. But that didn't stop him from still needing his own space occasionally when things got too much.

Back at the very start of the outbreak he had gone off on hunting trips to try and process just what the hell was happening to the world. Hunting was what he was good at it, it gave him a purpose.

Daryl had needed to get away right now for a whole host of reasons, he thought, skidding around a corner throwing up dust.

He knew he had been out of line to Beth; she hadn't deserved the harsh way he had lashed out at her, a lump forming in his throat as he replayed their last conversation. His heart sinking a little, as he remembered the hurt look on her face as she had walked away from him earlier that day. A hurt that he knew he had caused. He could tell that she still kept herself going by trying to look for the good in things and the last thing he wanted to do was to knock that out of her. He also knew he needed to make things right with her again, and he would work on that.

But Daryl couldn't think about Beth for the moment, he had other things on his mind.

He was angry, so angry at the world again, angrier than he'd been in quite a while. Baby Judith might not be his actual flesh and blood, but he loved her like she was. He still remembered so vividly the day she had been born, the way he had felt when he had first laid eyes on her minutes after she had arrived in to the world. He had never seen a baby so young before, so innocent, precious and tiny, so peaceful. And he'd vowed then to do everything in his power to make sure she made it, to protect her and give her a shot at life. He'd taken it upon himself to go out on a desperate mission to find the baby formula so urgently needed to keep her alive, knowing that he'd die before he came back without it. He'd saved her back then and she was all their baby now.

The little girl may have entered their world in the most horrific circumstances after losing Lori, her mother. But as she grew they couldn't have asked for more of a bright shining light than Judith Grimes the lil asskicker. She signified a real hope for them all, a reason to keep pressing on, for her, for the future.

That sweet little baby girl hadn't deserved what had happened to her with that damn dog, Daryl thought angrily. He wasn't a doctor, but he had observed first hand the way the savage beast had mauled her tiny face, and he had seen enough dog bites in his time to know Judith would be lucky to keep her eye as a result, even luckier for her vision to remain intact, surviving in the current twisted dark world with that kind of handicap would be tough, real tough, he thought.

They may have a doctor back at the safe zone, but Daryl wasn't stupid, he knew the score. What he had meant by his little outburst at Beth earlier, even if he hadn't worded it in the best way, was that having a doctor alone was no guarantee that Judith would come out of this okay. That was just the way the world worked now; there were no big hospitals anymore, no miracle drugs and teams of skilled medical people to jump to your rescue. If you got sick, you were pretty much screwed.

The thought of baby Judith being harmed in any way made Daryl sick to the bottom of his stomach. He wished he could share in Beth's optimism, but he knew only too well how cruel the universe could be.

Racing on even more, the speedometer creeping up and up, the machine visibly shook as Daryl pushed it to its limits, his hands gripping the handle bars tightly, eyes fixed fiercely on the long empty stretch of road ahead of him. The unknown.

He thought back to the horror he had felt when he had first heard the yells coming from Carl.

Daryl knew it had been bad even before witnessing first hand the wild beast's jaws tightly clamping down on to the helpless little body of Carl's baby sister. Daryl would never forget the look on the little girl's face, and he thought how he should have been quicker, he should have moved faster, had his crossbow closer, if he'd only managed to get it a few seconds earlier, the damage could have been significantly less, things could be different now. But he'd been off his game, too engrossed in his conversation with Beth, his guard for danger had been down, he'd known Judith had been out there with Carl, but he just hadn't been paying enough attention.

They'd spent her entire life successfully protecting her from walker bites only to let her get bit and risk potentially losing her to a _damn stray dog._

The pain of losing Judith would be just too much for Daryl, for all of them, he knew that. The pain of losing Sophia still haunted him. The feeling of complete and utter helplessness that had drowned him when he had first seen Carol's daughter coming out of that damn barn. He hadn't been able to find her, to save her. And he hadn't been quick enough to save Judith either.

But Judith wasn't dead, she hadn't turned. This was different. Judith still had a chance. He had to cling on to that.

As much as Daryl wasn't a fan of Ryan, he had to admit he had done a great thing in saving Judith's life the other day. He wasn't a bad person. He'd probably done far more good in his lifetime then Daryl could ever dream of, he thought, reflecting on all the bad stuff he'd done with Merle over his lifetime. Helping people and saving people's lives hadn't really come in to it, not even close. Not until...

Snapping back in to reality, Daryl suddenly came to a crashing halt.

He'd found a sweet spot, something worth stopping for.

The view was stunning, the air so clear, he could see for miles. There wasn't a soul around, just beautiful nature.

Slowly, he climbed off his bike and sank down on to the ground, exhaling, placing his hands behind his head as he looked out some more. It was so quiet, so peaceful.

He found his mind wandering to Beth again.

He couldn't put in to words how it felt to have her back, to know she was safe. But she seemed to have changed, to have grown up so quickly, she didn't seem so much of a young girl anymore. Which both confused and excited him. In some respects, he could no longer just brush her off as too young to think about in_ that_ way anymore, thoughts he'd always tried to keep buried even from himself. Any feelings he might have experienced for her, even just tiny flutters he'd never properly understand, now being no different, his feelings towards her being so confusing to him still. He sensed in a way that she wanted to get closer to him now after their time alone together. But could he really risk getting too close to her?

Daryl had also seen the way Ryan looked at her. Ryan was closer to her age and despite his arrogance Ryan was a decent guy he could look after her, Daryl felt sure of that, and she should be with him he thought to himself. That was right.

But however much his head tried to tell him that, he couldn't quite figure out why his heart was telling him something different.

He drew in another long deep breath, glancing up at the sky, it would be getting dark soon, and he had just enough fuel to make it back to camp. He didn't belong out here on his own, he belonged back there with his people, he knew that.

He climbed back on to the motorcycle revving the engine turning it around, and a large cloud of dust quickly formed as he sped off in to the distance back the way he had come from…

**A/N- Thanks for reading, would love to hear your thoughts.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N - Thanks everyone for the response and reviews to this story so far. **

Beth tapped the top of her journal with her pen, having spent the past couple of hours spilling her thoughts out on to the page, her wrist was aching and her head was starting to go slightly fuzzy. Writing was her therapy, her passion, her way of offloading all of the craziness going on inside her head, processing her innermost secret thoughts, documenting her journey through the darkness that had become the world these days.

Right now, she was sat in the medical building located at the centre of the safezone she had called her home for the past few months, a place that felt safer to her than anywhere had since the beginning of the outbreak, even her family home back on the farm. Here she felt as though there was hope for a future, a different future to the one she had always dreamt of, but a future none the less, a chance to be happy again, to find something worth surviving for, especially now she had been reunited with her old survival family again now too.

She had been waiting outside the room baby Judith was having her eye operated on for a good few hours now. It was late, she wasn't sure exactly how late, but it was definitely approaching midnight. She had wanted to stay and wait for news, knowing full well there was little chance she would sleep even if she tried. Plus, she had wanted to keep Carl company. He had insisted on staying and waiting too, having now dozed off in the chair next to her, refusing to leave. Rick had eventually gone back to the house he shared with Daryl and Carol, to try and get some sleep before Judith woke. Beth had promised to go over and wake him the minute they had finished.

She yawned, placing her journal down beside her, stretching and reaching up to tighten her loose blonde ponytail. Carl's eyes instantly jolting open from where he was sat slumped beside her, alerted by the faint noise she had made.

"Is there any news?" he said straight away, searching Beth's face hopefully, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles.

"Nah, not yet."

He didn't respond at first, looking deep in thought, before he said, "You really think they're going be able to save her eye?" his face deadly serious.

"I hope so," was all Beth could reply.

She knew there was little point in treating Carl like a child anymore, he might have been just a young boy at the start of all this, but he'd been forced to abandon his childhood, just like she had, both having witnessed a life time worth of horror in their young years, it changed a person irrevocably, made them view the world with different eyes. Not since his mother had died had Beth seen Carl quite like this though.

"She's gonna lose her eye and it's all my fault," he said despondently, shaking his head, his voice wobbling slightly.

Beth's big blue eyes studied his young face, she hadn't had much of a chance to speak to him since Judith's accident, but she knew he felt fully responsible for what had happened to his baby sister. She understood his pain, because a small part of her couldn't help but blame herself a little too, unable to stop thoughts of 'what if' from creeping in every now and then. If she hadn't been so pre-occupied with her conversation with Daryl perhaps she would have spotted the dog and grave danger to Judith sooner before any real harm had been done.

"It aint your fault, Carl. You weren't to know what was gonna happen, none of us were, I saw that dog too and it looked harmless enough to me, but I guess ya just never know," she said kindly.

The truth actually being however much Beth loved dogs, growing up on the farm she was also very aware that they could be unpredictable. No animal could be fully trusted her father had taught her. She had known that yet still she hadn't managed to act fast enough. She swallowed, looking to Carl to say some more.

"You can't go blaming yourself, that's not going to do anyone any good. Because no-one blames you.."

"My Dad does," Carl responded, his shaky voice a stark reminder to Beth how vulnerable he still was.

"Your Dad doesn't blame you, he's just upset, " Beth was quick to reply.

"Daryl does," Carl said, his eyes flashing with pain.

Beth flinched at the mention of Daryl's name, reminding her of their parting conversation earlier when he had yelled at her before taking off on his motorcycle. He'd seemed so angry, so distant, so introverted again.

"Daryl don't blame you either," she said, her tone sincere, proving she hadn't just said it to be nice.

Beth wasn't sure exactly what was going on with Daryl at the moment, but she was pretty sure he would hate to think Carl would be beating himself up like this, over a genuine mistake, a stupid misjudgement.

"Oh yeah, then why wouldn't he look at me, why did he seem so mad at me, he just took off on his motorcycle," Carl continued.

Beth drew in a breath; realising she hadn't been the only one on the receiving end of Daryl's foul temper earlier.

"Daryls just worried about Judith too, we all are. He doesn't blame you, I know he doesn't."

She sighed, forced to reflect on Daryl's last words to her earlier that day. The more she thought about them, the more powerful they became. Beth knew he was right there was a chance Judith might lose her sight, her eye even. But even if the very worst happened, they would all be there for her. There were doctors here and medicine; there were things that could help her regardless, the little girl would adapt, they all would, they had been through worse. Judith was still alive, that was the main thing.

Beth wished Daryl could have seen it like that. But he had been so cold, so full of anger and sadness, she had seen him like that before, thinking he was unreachable, but he had eventually snapped out of it, _she_ had made him snap him out of it. She had done it once, she could do it again.

"He will come back won't he?" Carl questioned, uncertainty in his voice, bringing Beth out of her thoughts and back to reality.

"He'll be back," Beth replied with certainty, locking eyes with the younger boy, her heart racing.

Beth was pretty pissed with Daryl still, but the thought of him disappearing when she had just found him and the others again filled her with complete dread. She honestly didn't know what she would do if he didn't come back. He had to.

"I'm not sure if he's that keen on it here though. Don't think he's too quick to trust people. Especially after he got caught up with that bad crew before he found us again, putting his life on the line almost dying to save us; and then what happened at terminus," Carl reeled off, oblivious to the effect his words were having on a startled Beth.

Beth was unable to stop her jaw from dropping a little. She felt as though she had been punched in the gut, hearing that Daryl had nearly died. She had honestly been so wrapped up in what she had been through herself, her experience at Grady and then being rescued; she hadn't really thought to ask Daryl exactly what had happened to him. She had presumed he'd escaped the funeral home and managed to track down the others soon after, she'd always clung on to the hope that that was had happened to him after she had been taken that night, leaving him alone to fight off the influx of walkers that had descended on the house.

In the short time that Beth had been reunited with her old group here, Maggie had explained they'd had a tough time trying to find a suitable home, but she'd never gone in to a lot of detail, it had never seemed to be the right time to get in to it. But listening to Carl now, Beth really wasn't surprised to hear from the sounds of it that Daryl had done something badass to save them, although she knew he didn't think of himself in that way she knew he could be pretty heroic at times, taking control when needed, putting others before himself. She had meant it when she had said he was made for this world. It came naturally to him, this way of life.

Beth also gathered from the tone of Carl's voice that something pretty bad had gone down for all of them after they had met up again after the prison too.

"Wh-what happened at terminus?" She asked, her eyes widening.

Carl's face displayed a hint of confusion, looking back at Beth, "You don't know?"

Beth just shook her head, waiting for Carl to elaborate when the door to the operating room swung open. Looking over they saw Isobel walking towards them. She looked strained, a surgical mask dropped around her neck, but upon seeing them she broke in to a small smile.

"It went well, she's sleeping." she said immediately in response to both Beth and Carl's anxious faces.

"Thank goodness," Beth said, rushing to give Carl a brief hug, before saying, "I should go and tell Rick. He went back to their place to get some rest."

"I'll go and tell Rick, he'll probably have some questions, you should go and find Ryan. I think he could do with a friend right now," Isobel said quickly, pulling her mask off.

"Okay," Beth nodded, thinking how she should really stick around for Carl too, Rick would be sure to come straight over as soon as he heard anyway.

...

Rick looked up with a start. Hearing the creak of the door he switched on the light beside him, blinking from the sudden bust of brightness dazzling him, still adjusting to artificial lighting again.

Focusing slowly, he made out a blonde female walking in to the room towards him. Eventually making out it was Isobel stood in front of him.

"What time is it? I must have passed out," he said, rubbing his eyes, sitting up causing the blanket covering him to slip down the sofa slightly, thinking Carol must have placed it over him before she went to bed.

"Past midnight," Isobel replied softly.

Rick saw she had her blonde hair tied up on top of her head, she looked tired but still strikingly beautiful he couldn't help but think as his eyes slid over her profile.

She gently perched on the edge of the sofa next to him, her face displaying a subtle apprehension.

"How-how is she?" Rick said quickly, desperately, very aware that Isobel had been with Judith throughout her operation.

The procedure had gone on longer than expected and despite wanting to stay awake, exhaustion had finally got the better of him. But seeing Isobel, everything suddenly came flooding back to him. Judith's attack and how they'd nearly lost her, the complication with her eye now, resulting in his utter dependence on these people he had known for such a short period of time, having no choice but to place his trust in them fully.

"She's doing okay, we were able to repair the damage as best we could, her eye is intact, but it's too early to tell how her vision will be effected," Isobel replied, her face remaining serious as her eyes softened with a gentle lightness that created a feeling of slight ease within Rick.

"You're a doctor too?" He questioned, suddenly realizing he knew so little about the woman sat next to him.

Her eyes flickered across him, resting on his face, "Yes, well in a way, I'm not a surgeon like Ryan, I'm an OB/GYN…."

She paused allowing him to digest her words, before adding with a small smile, "I specialise in delivering babies under difficult circumstances, although theres not a whole lot of demand for that in the world these days. People don't seem too keen on the idea of have babies anymore for some reason."

Taking in the pained look on Rick's face, she instantly realised her mistake, her hand flying up to her mouth, shaking her head, she said, "I am so sorry, Rick. I wasn't thinking."

Isobel had no idea what had happened to Judith's mother but she presumed that there had to be a very good reason why she wasn't around anymore to take care of her little girl, the most probable explanation having to be that she was dead.

"My wife died giving birth to Judith," Rick explained, pain consuming him once more as he was forced to remember the tragic circumstances in which his daughter had entered the world.

He looked away from the blonde woman in front of him and down at his hands. It had been a while since he had spoken about Lori, he hadn't forgotten, he never would, he'd just found a way to deal with it, he'd had to. She had gone and he had to carry on.

"Rick, I'm so sorry," Isobel repeated with genuine empathy and kindness.

"She just needed a c section," he explained, looking her straight in the eye this time, his voice shaking with emotion.

"They told her after she had Carl that she wouldn't be able to give birth naturally if we had another child, but they said it wouldn't be a big deal. I mean, a c section is a straightforward thing, right?" he continued, stopping to gauge her reaction, as she nodded slowly back at him, her eyes focused on him intently, encouraging him to carry on talking.

"She never stood a chance, it was a damn death sentence for her," he said quietly, shaking his head, reliving every moment of that terrible day again.

Isobel slowly moved to place her hand delicately over his, unsure at first if it would be welcomed or not, before she felt him relax slightly.

Everyone had a story to tell now herself included Isobel thought, but few were as heart breaking as this one coming from the man sat next to her. She knew he hadn't deserved what had happened to him, je was a good man, her brother and a few of her other friends hadn't been sure about him at first, but Isobel had. She could tell by his eyes, he was one of the few good ones left.

Rick took a moment to compose himself, drawing a small comfort from the warmth of her touch, noticing the empathy in her pale green eyes still, she felt his pain. The irony of it was crushing. She could quite possibly have been one of very few people left that could have saved Lori, his wife, the mother of his children. Hershel had been their best chance at the time, but even he had only ever performed c sections on cattle and horses. It would have been a long shot even if he had been able to get to Lori in time.

He opened his mouth to say something further, when he was stalled by the sound of footsteps approaching the building, glancing up he saw the front door opening again, this time seeing it was Daryl walking through to join them.

Daryl didn't say anything at first, his eyes shifting from Rick to Isobel, trying to read the situation, "Sorry, am I interrupting something?" he eventually mumbled awkwardly.

"I just called in to update Rick on Judith," Isobel explained, subtly repositioning her body away from Rick's a little.

"How is she?" Daryl immediately responded, his eyes full of concern.

"They managed to save her eye," Rick said straight away.

"That's great, man, really great," Daryl responded, his face immediately relaxing with relief.

"Yeah, yeah, it its," Rick nodded.

"We'll have to wait and see what sight she is going regain but we're hopeful, we did all we could," Isobel added glancing at Daryl. She could tell from his face he had been just as worried about the little girl as Rick had been.

"You did great," Rick said, his light blue eyes brimming with emotion as he turned to look back at her.

"That brother of yours, we aint exactly seen eye to eye on a few things, but can't deny he did something amazing in saving my little girl. Never thought I'd hear myself say this, but Beth's found herself a good guy there," Rick said profoundly.

"Oh, I don't think it's quite like that," Isobel jumped in, her eyes flitting to Daryl for a second.

"Well, sure as hell looked like _'that'_ earlier, when I called in on their place to see him before the operation," Rick added raising his eyebrows, a small smirk crossing his lips. He wasn't normally one for gossip, but he'd thought it had been pretty apparent right from the start what had been going on between Beth and Ryan.

"They're friends that's all," Isobel said again, her tone almost defensive as she stood up.

"Whatever you say, none of my business anyway," Rick responded holding his hands up still smiling, standing up to join her.

"I'm going to go back and check on Judith," Isobel said, changing the subject, smiling politely at Daryl from where he was still stood quietly next to them.

"Give me a minute, I'll come over too, I want to be there when she wakes," Rick said seeing her out the door.

Walking back in to the room, his attention turned to Daryl who had sunk down in to one of the armchairs, "You go somewhere?" Rick said casually, looking straight at him.

"Went out on the bike, see what I could find," Daryl mumbled avoiding direct eye contact.

"With Carol?" Rick responded, nodding as if in answer to his own question.

"Nah, on my own," Daryl replied, knowing full well how Rick would react next.

"Thought we agreed we don't go anywhere alone anymore, risks too high, man. I mean, I know you can handle yourself out there and everything, but you still need someone to watch your back," Rick lectured, his eyes fixed fiercely on Daryl.

Daryl didn't reply at first, he knew Rick had a point, it had been pretty reckless of him to just take off on his own like that, especially given the mood he'd been in.

He stroked the stubble on his chin slowly between his thumb and forefinger, deep in thought, he was part of a group now, a family, but he wasn't sure if he could ever completely get used to being told what he could and couldn't do, to having set rules to follow and people relying on him. Before all this it had always just been him and Merle. No-one else.

"We can't afford to lose you," Rick continued, filling the uncomfortable silence, his voice calmer.

Daryl had been with Rick since the beginning, he'd taken control and run things when Rick hadn't been able to. They might have found a new safe community to join, but Rick would be the first to admit he was still a little wary of new people, especially a set up seeming as 'too good to be true' as this one was. Rick needed Daryl still, they all did.

Daryl finally nodded in response; he understood what Rick was saying and he didn't want any more of a confrontation it wasn't the right time.

"I hear you, man," Daryl mumbled.

"Well, anyway, I've said my piece. The main thing for now is Judith's come out of this okay. So, I need to be there when she wakes," Rick said, relief hitting him once again forgetting his annoyance with Daryl, turning to make his way out the door.

"Yep, that's the main thing," Daryl agreed, watching Rick go, the room falling in to complete silence as the door banged shut behind him.

Sinking back in to his seat, placing his hands behind his head Daryl let out a long breath.

Things were starting to become a lot clearer to him now. Judith would always be their number one priority. Being at this place where there was a small seemingly safe community for her to grow up in; food, clean water, shelter, other kids to play with, it was always going to be best for her, a chance at something that might resemble a future. That was what mattered.

His thoughts then wandered to Beth briefly, the girl he had grown so desperately fond of, for a while his little reason to live even, now the reason they were all here, and he hadn't forgotten he needed to speak to her, make things right with her again after their disagreement. He didn't want to ruin their friendship; she meant so much to him and she always would, no matter what he would always be there for her.

However, his strong feelings for her may have been confused and a little overwhelming when he first saw her again, but now he was beginning to see things with more clarity after Rick's revelation.

Anything other than friendship between them wouldn't be right he realized. She didn't need him in the same way that she had when it had just been the two of them, the dynamics had changed, there were other people around now too. He didn't do well getting too close to people either, and she had found a good man to be with right here_. If_ as Rick implied she was starting something with Ryan, Daryl would just accept it. It made sense. Ryan like her other boyfriends was closer to her in age, he was smart and strong, she should be with him. He could offer her more than he could, Daryl thought. Ryan was the kind of guy that she was always naturally going to end up with. That was just the way it was.

Besides, intimacy and opening up to people had never been easy for Daryl; he worked better when he was on his own, without making himself vulnerable, it was simpler that way.

He closed his eyes it was dark now he'd rest up. Then in the morning he'd start over. Find Beth, go and see Judith, then sort out what needed to be done around the new safe zone they were starting to see as their home. He might feel as though he didn't fit in all that well now, but he would change that, he would make the effort, he knew he had no choice.

His limbs becoming heavy he relaxed back, the chair wasn't the most comfortable but he finally allowed himself the luxury of falling in to a deep uninterrupted sleep. Shifting slightly, he heard a light tapping at the door, trying to muster up the energy to open his eyes enough to get up and investigate who was there it stopped, and everything went dark again as he drifted off again, succumbing fully in to a deep dreamless sleep.

**A/N - Thanks for reading. If you have time, please leave a review :) This story is a journey for Beth and Daryl, but I don't want it to be easy for them, at the moment Daryl isn't going to make it easy, but there will be some unexpected people supporting them and helping Daryl to see what is right in front of him coming up!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N - Thanks for the reviews for last chap and for all you lovely readers, I am very grateful. And I promise y'all things are going to start to heat up a bit for Beth and Daryl coming up soon... **

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><p>The air was crisp and fresh, a gentle breeze rustling through the tops of the trees. Beth took a swig from the bottle of water beside her, rubbing her right eye slightly, trying to shake off the nagging headache she could feel coming on.<p>

Perhaps Ryan's idea of opening a bottle of bourbon the night before hadn't been such a smart one after all she thought. He had said just one drink to take the edge off, but then Maggie and Glenn had appeared, one thing had led to another and before they had known it the bottle had been drained. Not so long ago that kind of thing would have been unthinkable to Beth, but her outlook on the world had shifted somewhat now, she knew they had to live each day as if it could be their last, there was no place for being uptight, holding on to what could have been. The world was a different place, the rules had changed.

She was sat keeping watch at the top of their site on her own, clutching a rifle in her hands tightly, her senses fully alerted to danger, not that there were ever many walkers around this area much anymore. There weren't many people about at all and she had volunteered to take Ryan's spot on watch at at the top of the perimeter, letting him get some well deserved rest for a couple more hours. He had said he would come out and join her, but Beth wasn't holding her breath, he'd seemed pretty out of it when she had left him.

Ryan had managed to operate successfully on baby Judith the day before and despite him trying to pretend otherwise she could tell it had taken a lot out of him. Apart from the few things Ryan had shown her Beth had limited medical knowledge and she hadn't been present in the operation, but from all accounts he had done a great job keeping his cool and doing what was needed to patch up Judith's eye as best he could under the circumstances. There was every chance she would make a full recovery now. That alone had been worth drinking to.

Beth had been able to tell that Ryan had been pretty shaken up afterwards, he hadn't been experienced in that kind of procedure.

This morning however, he was back to his overly confident self again, which Beth had to take as a good sign, things could now go back to how they had been before the incident with Judith, the panic over for the time being.

Ryan had risen briefly and made some comment about how if she was ever planning to sleep in her old bed again she should be sure to wash the sheets thoroughly after Maggie and Glenn had kept him up all night, and perhaps he should just join her on the sofa from now on, winking as he'd also said how he couldn't believe she had turned down his offer of sharing his bed with him the night before. She had rolled her eyes, but she had known he was just fooling around; they were friends that was all.

Beth did wonder sometimes though what Ryan would actually do if she called his bluff and actually took him up on one of his playful offers. She couldn't deny the thought of brushing lips with him hadn't crossed her mind once or twice, with a guy that gorgeous it would be hard not to. Although fantasies of that nature had become less frequent now she had the distraction of her old survival family back again. One person in particular entering her thoughts on a much more regular basis.

From where she was sat Beth squinted her eyes a little, pretty sure she could make out in the distance a broken figure ambling towards her in an all too familiar way.

She reached for the binoculars placed down to her side, looking through them instantly confirmed her suspicions. Her hands shaking slightly, she placed the binoculars back down beside her, holding the rifle up fully to take an aim her finger on the trigger poised and ready to fire as the clumsy beast seemed to be approaching with more speed. About to release she stalled, sensing a figure coming up behind her.

Out of the corner of her eye Beth saw shaggy brown hair, a dark coloured shirt and trousers and what looked like a crossbow.

Her heart rate instantly spiked with the knowledge she now had an audience, before she finally released the trigger, the bullet skimming the side of the walker's ear, narrowly missing its forehead, causing it to only fasten its pace excited further by the noise and near miss.

"Damn it," Beth muttered under her breath, she wasn't the best she knew that, but she'd had some decent practice at shooting since she'd arrived here and she was trusted to keep look out, she wasn't a bad shot now either, normally she wouldn't have missed like that. The timing was typically annoying.

She glanced at Daryl her cheeks reddening slightly with a touch of embarrassment, but she didn't say anything as she thought to herself out of everyone, why did it have to be_ him_ witnessing her messing up her shot like that?

Without saying anything either, Daryl simply reached over taking the rifle out of her small hands, gripping it firmly with his larger ones and in one swift movement he put it up to his eye and fired, instantly taking out the offending walker within seconds, hitting it straight between the eyes causing it to topple backwards dramatically.

Beth remained silent still, quiet and watchful; she didn't want to let on how impressed she was, because she was also pretty annoyed with him still. She knew she could have handled the situation eventually, it was just one walker and far enough away not to pose any kind of real threat, all she had needed to do was take a second to compose herself again and she would have struck it the second time she felt certain.

"You hesitated," Daryl finally remarked, handing her back the rifle wiping his hands on the front of his trousers, his eyes gliding across her face, resting on her eyes.

"Once you get in to position, there aint no time for second guessing, specially if there are a lot of em coming at ya," he lectured, his voice low a subtle gentleness to it as he hovered next to her still.

"Well, I was doing fine till I had an audience," Beth responded unable to hide the annoyance to her voice, realising as she said it how petty she probably sounded, immature even.

She turned to face him properly. There was something different about him she noticed, something about his body language and appearance. She could see that he'd cleaned up since she'd last seen him, his hair looked freshly washed, he still had a touch of stubble but his clothes were clean too. He also looked a little more relaxed, carefree even; of course the news about Judith would have been more than enough reason to calm him though she thought, as she turned away.

Beth hadn't forgotten she was still a little mad with him for the hurtful things he had said in the heat of the moment before he had taken off, but she couldn't deny it was great to see that he'd come back in one piece, that on the face of it he seemed back to his old self.

An awkward silence fell between them.

Still standing, Daryl looked as though he wanted to say something further, searching for the words as he found himself perching down next to her. Beth could tell by the way he was sitting and the expression on his face that he felt bad about the way things had been left between them the day before. He wanted to clear the air, but was unsure how, she knew it wasn't easy for him.

"I don't normally miss," she felt the need to explain, breaking the silence, her tone taking on a slightly calmer tone.

"Perhaps if you tried with a clearer head," he said, keeping a straight face. He could tell she was tired because her voice was a little wobbly and her eyes looked heavy.

"What?" She bit her lip and looked around.

"Your little frat party," he responded, raising his eyebrows his face serious and unreadable, causing her to wince, before his lips curled in to a small smirk, leaning across to nudge her in the arm with his elbow, taking her by surprise.

Beth's eyes widened, feeling her stomach in knots. She wished he didn't give her such butterflies.

"I saw Glenn this morning," he explained. "Think you was all making a bit of noise by all accounts too."

She rolled her large almond shaped eyes at him. Daryl gulped down a breath thinking how the sight of it was possibly one of the prettiest things he had ever seen.

"Weren't like that, just a little bourbon, was a long day," she exclaimed, the last thing she wanted now was for him to turn all judgemental on her.

He shrugged, watching as she blew air out of her closed lips, picking up the binoculars to look through them again.

Ignoring him focusing on studying the area the exterminated walker had appeared from, Beth thought back to how she had actually gone straight over to find him the minute Rick had appeared the night before finding her with Carl and Judith, mentioning Daryl was back, but her knocks at his place had gone unanswered. Despite that she had still gone over again later a little merry to see if he or Carol wanted to join them all, but again there had been no reply. She wanted to tell him that now.

Thinking better of it, she just said, "Bourbon aint no moonshine though," breaking in to the faintest of playful smiles, the binoculars still pinned to her face.

Daryl let out a small husky laugh, lost for words. Memories of dirty old log cabins in the woods, desperation, the finest moonshine he'd ever tasted and Beth, quickly coming flooding back to him, sucking the air out of his lungs for a moment. How could it even be possible given his darkened frame of mind back at the time, that that strange night would have turned out to be one of his fondest memories now?

He put his hand up to instinctively rub his chin, clearing his throat, "Turns out you were right," he eventually mumbled, changing the subject.

Beth placed the binoculars down beside her again, turning to look straight at him, "Bout?"

"Your boyfriend, seems he did manage to save the day after all," he said quickly, keeping eye contact with her, his eyes widening as he raised an eyebrow, before looking away.

Beth continued to look at him folding her arms, realising this was as close to an apology as she was going to get out of him.

She also wanted to remind him that Ryan was not her boyfriend, but there was something about his tone of voice that stopped her. When he had called Ryan her boyfriend before he had sounded almost bitter, disapproving even, possibly in a peculiar way even a little hurt or rejected that in whatever capacity she had someone like Ryan in her life. But this time the way he said it was all light-hearted, teasing, it reminded Beth a little of how he had been back at the prison, before they had got closer. She wrinkled her brow with slight confusion, wondering what had caused this change of heart.

"Well, perhaps you ought to have a little more faith in things, learn to let go and trust occasionally too," she said, still looking at him, and as the words came out she found herself unsure whether she was still referring to the Judith situation now or not, whether it was something else.

"Judy is going to be okay, it will be a while till she's completely recovered and we know if her sight will come back fully, but she's gonna be just fine, we'll all be here for her." Beth stressed further, meaning every word.

Daryl just nodded in agreement, studying her face gazing back at him, he had always thought about her as being pretty, but he could see now she wasn't pretty, she was beautiful. Her face was youthful still, but her features were becoming more adult. The sensations it caused in him were so unfamiliar.

He was about to say something further when she interrupted him patting his shoulder, her gaze shifting to the horizon again. Turning his head in the same direction Daryls eyes fixed on the sight of another walker appearing out of the trees moving across the long stretch of grass outside their gate. He moved his eyes back to Beth, watching as she raised the rifle again and he half wondered why she was out here on her own. The determined look on her face as she aimed though reminded him a little of how Andrea had been, and he got it.

This time she fired and she didn't miss, hitting the walker in the face. He was impressed, he hadn't forgotten how she could look after herself when she needed to. She was tough.

Before he had the chance to fully congratulate her though, a larger group of walkers appeared.

She shot again, this time missing badly, cursing silently, feeling under pressure aware that Daryl's eyes were still on her, adrenaline taking over, she felt herself clamming up, "Damn things hardly ever come up here anymore," she muttered, firing and missing again as they spread out slightly.

"Here," Daryl said, tapping her on the arm with his crossbow, "It's faster."

Beth looked from the crossbow to Daryl, her heart sinking a little as a fresh rush of nerves swept over her. The last time she had attempted to use his crossbow, she had been practicing shooting birds and targets attached to trees, with him right behind her giving her pointers.

Reaching out she took the crossbow from him, her hands shaking ever so slightly, she had forgotten just how it felt to have his weapon in them.

Aware the walkers were getting closer and closer she rose it in the air to eye level, just as she felt a strong pair of arms loosely drape around her shoulders.

"That's it, hold it real solid and steady, just about there, take your time, focus, make sure you got an accurate aim…remember?" Daryl said, his voice low and patient, his hands touching her arm gently, causing a different kind of adrenaline to trickle through her as he leant in a fraction closer so she could feel his hot breath on the back of her neck.

"Draw it back a little more so the arrow has the power to run straight, stick your thumb out, remember?" He instructed further, causing an unexpected flutter to hit her. He was so close it took her back to the day in the woods, the day they had fooled around before they had found the funeral home, and he had shown her how to shoot, the day she had realised that despite it being Daryl the least talkative member of their group, he was her only family now and quite unexpectedly on some level she could; _quite possibly, nearly, sort of, be falling for him._

Her finger still on the trigger area she breathed in for a moment, allowing herself just for a second to take in his scent. He still smelt the same, manly; sweat mixed with leather, only this time there was the hint of some kind of musky shower gel in there too.

"Tuck your chin in, close your eye, look through the peep sight, line up your aim and shoot," he said his voice still low and calm. Beth forced herself to focus again drawing it back releasing an arrow in to the air aiming for the closest walker, hitting it in the neck, causing it to fall to the ground, before it wriggled, it was still moving.

"Good effort," Daryl said the genuine tone to his voice proving he meant it, shooting from this range was difficult, she'd done well for a beginner.

Beth silently passed the crossbow back to him, as much as she would have loved to have carried on firing, she didn't want to waste his arrows, there were around four or five walkers gathered down there now and they needed to be dealt with.

All she could do was look on in awe as he effortlessly drew back the bow, steadying his arm and firing, the first arrow gliding through the air, reloading within seconds he didn't miss once. Beth remembered Ottis giving her older brother hunting lessons back at the farm, how difficult he had found it, Ottis had been hunting all his life but even he had nothing on Daryl when it came to shooting to kill.

"Guess I need to get a bit more practice in," Beth remarked with an impressed smile, watching as satisfied he had dealt with all of the walkers Daryl put his beloved crossbow back down beside him.

"Well, y'know I'm always available if ya want any more lessons, you only have to ask," he said.

Beth looked at him, he never ceased to amaze her sometimes, his face was serious, but his tone wasn't so much. If she didn't know him better she could have sworn she detected the smallest of smiles cross his lips too, his eyes lighting up slightly, almost as if he was flirting with her. But this was Daryl she remembered. Daryl didn't flirt. Ever. Beth wondered if she was reading too much in to it. He could be sarcastic, witty, rude even; as well as genuinely friendly and kind, often at the times when you least expected it. But he never seemed to have the desire or confidence to flirt outwardly like other guys did.

"Thanks," she replied.

Beth looked at the expression displayed in his eyes, realizing that more than anything he was trying to be nice to her again, probably to make up for being such a jerk to her the day before.

Holding his gaze her light blonde hair blew gently back in the breeze, the idea of Daryl mentoring her again filled her with excitement for a number of different reasons. First and foremost it was him that had shaped her in to the girl that had wanted to stick up for herself, to break out of the prison and to survive in this dark world where only the strongest made it. But she also remembered how much she had grown to enjoy their brief time alone together, despite the circumstances, she had grown close to him in a way she had never been close to anyone before.

"Bout what you said earlier," he suddenly said, his full attention on her now.

He could sense she had forgiven him for being a jackass the day before. She didn't hold grudges. But there was something else on his mind now.

"You said I should trust more. How was you so sure you could trust these people?" he continued, gesturing with his head towards the ground below them where a few people were coming and going, having already noticed a couple of looks thrown their way.

She didn't reply at first, her blue eyes fixed on him, blinking, her eyelashes fluttering, pondering on his question. Noticing how his dark blue eyes seemed to change colour, reflecting the light as he waited for her response.

The more Daryl looked at her the more he couldn't help but think she didn't belong here, in this world. Her skin was so smooth, naturally lightly sunkissed, her bright blue eyes held innocence deep in them, her lips were full and really soft pink, her hair neatly pulled back in to a bouncy blonde ponytail. He tried to look away; the lines may have been blurred for a while, but he knew now that at this point in time, the only possible thing between them was friendship, a strong friendship, but friendship none the less. He was a good decade older than her and more than a little rough around the edges the years having taken their toll. But even given that it didn't mean he was finding it easy to stop looking at her.

"Same way as we knew we could trust y'all when you turned up back at the farm," She eventually said her voice coming across sweetly, sounding like a piece of soft music.

Beth thought back to when she had first seen Ryan and the others at the hospital. When they had brought her back here, she'd had no real way of knowing for sure whether they were good or bad, just like the cops at Grady, she hadn't had the quick judgement of her father or sister, or Rick, Daryl and the rest of the group even, to fall back on. She had just had to trust her own instincts. But she had known in her gut they were good. She'd had little hope of being reunited with her old group back then, and more than anything she had known if she had stayed at the hospital any longer, sooner or later something bad would have happened.

Being with Daryl again, Beth suddenly realized thoughts of her half finished conversation with Carl from the night before were starting to overwhelm her once again, she bit her lip, feeling her pulse quicken, she knew the conversation she was about to start next was not going to be straightforward.

"Daryl, what happened? When you met up the others again what happened?" she questioned, her eyes glued on his face, noticing a small bead of sweat appearing on his forehead.

He shifted awkwardly, muttering, "Some things are best left in the past."

His eyes told a different story though, they seemed haunted all of a sudden. But the way they locked with hers it was as though some small part of him wanted to share whatever had happened.

"I know, but I wanna know, I need to know…..Carl said you nearly died for them," she questioned some more, making eye contact and holding his gaze determinedly.

"Weren't quite like that," he mumbled moving his eyes away from her.

Daryl looked out to the horizon, forced to remember the dark time he had got tangled up with the 'claimed crew' right after he had lost her. Seeing her here now, he couldn't help but feel a slight sense of relief that she hadn't been with him back then, they would most likely have tried to rape her and he was certain he would have died to protect her.

"They were after Rick's blood, I did what anyone would have," he continued, stopping there.

Beth didn't press him further, she got it.

She was just glad he had found Rick and the others and they were all together again here. There was clearly more to the story, another time she would find out, but for now that was enough.

He lifted his eyes once again to meet hers, their faces were so close, their emotional connection was just as powerful as ever, despite any recent awkwardness after all the time that had passed. They didn't need to put it in to words, it was just there.

Beth felt a lump form in her throat, she hadn't been expecting to be here with him like this again, it felt surreal, like a second chance.

"Daryl, I, " she whispered hesitantly.

The next thing she knew he was up on his feet again, crossbow in hand, firing at an unwelcome visitor snarling and growling clumsily as it walked towards the entrance. It's timing impeccable Beth thought.

"Guys, I said I'd take over now," a cheerful male voice said.

Both Beth and Daryl turned at the same time to see Glenn approaching them, Daryl muttered something ineligible to her as he leapt down crossing paths with Glenn.

"I should go and see Judith too," Beth said almost in a trance, the moment with Daryl gone, watching him walking away.

She realized with a heavy heart that now they were back amongst the rest of their group again, things could never quite go back to how they had been, when for a short time they had felt their futures lay solely with each other.

They were still close but it was different, Daryl was a tough nut to crack and if she wanted anything more from him, he wasn't going to make it easy for her.

**A/N - Thanks for reading, please leave a review if you have time :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N - Thanks again everyone for reading and reviewing, following and favouring. You're amazing readers! On a side note, how depressing is the show getting?! But at least we will always have the world of fanfiction :) **

**This chapter is going to set up some good Bethyl action to come!**

"So, d'you think they're screwing?"

It was Abraham that spoke.

Suddenly all heads were turned to where Rick was stood a little way away talking to Isobel. She had her back against the wall, one of her hands was touching the side of her face, the other clutched a bucket of water. Placing the bucket down on the ground spilling it slightly, she reached out to touch Rick's forearm as she laughed loudly at something he said. Causing him to break in to a broad grin too, raising his eyebrows.

Beth felt her eyes flicker to where Ryan was stood beside her to see he was carefully watching the scene unfolding before their eyes too. His sister and Rick.

Glenn was the first to respond, "Dunno," he said, breaking in to an amused smile, from where he was stood next to Maggie as a few of them stood around in a group.

It was mid morning, not a lot was happening around their walled community yet. There were a few kids playing games, some guys chopping wood and people pumping water but not a lot else. A lot of people hadn't ventured out of their houses yet so it was still quiet enough for the group to be fascinated by simply watching what looked like Rick chatting up a beautiful woman in the distance.

"Well, our boy Rick there aint exactly gotten any action in a while and she is a damn fine piece of ass," Abraham continued, chuckling to himself, glancing across at Ryan to a mutter a quick, "Sorry."

Beth felt herself tense up, she still didn't quite know what to make of Abraham, and she was unsure how Ryan would react. Surprisingly though he just shrugged.

"Oh, I don't think Isobel is like that," Beth was quick to remark, defending her friend, not wanting to think of her being on the receiving end of that kind of gossip.

"Everyone is like _that_ now, Beth," Ryan retorted, his eyes moving to her face as the group fell silent for a moment.

"Even the ones that pretend they aint," Ryan added with an arrogant smirk,

Abraham nodded in agreement, letting out a loud laugh as the rest of the small group erupted in to laughter too.

Beth twisted her hands together, instinctively her eyes moved away from the group of people she had been casually talking to and over to the side where she had noticed Daryl was sat close by on the steps leading up to his house. His head was down, his hair falling over his eyes, he was using a knife to sharpen his arrows methodically. But Beth knew he was listening, she saw him flinch. There was one thing she had come to learn about Daryl, he didn't say a lot but he didn't miss anything.

"Well, I'm going across to check Judy, told Carl I'd be along about now," Beth said her big blue eyes moving away from the sight of a surly Daryl and back towards the rest of the group again.

...

"Beth, wait up a sec," Ryan said, chasing after her, grabbing her hand as she reached the door to the medical building.

"Just wanted to speak to you a sec," he added.

She turned her head in anticipation of what he was going to say, the look in his eye telling her it was serious.

"Before you go in to see Judith, I just wanted to run something by you, an idea," he continued, his arm still gently touching hers.

Beth glanced back at him, putting her hand up to her eyes to shade them from the sun.

"Yep," she smiled softly, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear where it fell in to her face.

"I was thinking. Y'know, I'm the best…" he said flashing her a smug grin, his brilliant green eyes twinkling with amusement for a moment.

Beth rolled her eyes, giving him an obvious frown. Folding her arms.

"I aint got time for this," she protested.

Looking at him, Beth couldn't help but think that despite how annoying he could be, Ryan had to be one of the most handsome guys she had ever seen. With his tall muscular physique, perfectly styled hair, chiselled jaw and charismatic eyes, it wasn't surprising most of the females around the place had a slight crush on him. He was stunning, but he knew it too.

"Just hear me out, okay," Ryan said, his smile fading, his voice taking on a more serious tone again.

"I'm the best at saving lives, for no other reason than I went to med school for years, I studied and I worked in a hospital, I learned from the best. And, if I hadn't been there when Judith was attacked, she wouldn't have made it. That's not me being arrogant, that's just a fact, and it worries me cause I know I can't always be there. I might not always be around."

Beth unfolded her arms, her blue eyes darting across his face. He was a pain in the ass a lot of the time, but he was also one of her closest friends, she couldn't think about a day when he wasn't around.

"What you talking about? You aint going anywhere, Ryan Dawson," she said with a nervous smile. The possibility of losing more people she cared about making her stomach twist with anxiety.

"Don't get me wrong, I aint planning on going anywhere or anything, but none of us know when our times up, especially now. So the thing is, I know I'd sleep a little easier knowing there were other people that could take care of situations like what happened with Judith."

"There is Isobel," Beth said slowly, unsure exactly where he was going with this.

"We need more than just one doctor, Beth," he responded.

"Well, there is Derek and Steve," Beth said, looking up at him her eyes still searching his face with confusion.

"Derek is a dentist and Steve is a pharmacist. I'm talking about people that can save lives, take out bullets, treat trauma wounds, you follow me?"

Beth nodded, feeling her lower lip trembling slightly.

"You're smart, Beth. You pick things up quickly and I've seen you tend to people before, you're a natural."

Beth remained silent, unsure if he was really going where she thought he was going.

"You said yourself you wanted to study medicine," he said carefully, pausing and waiting to gauge her reaction.

"Th-that was before, it aint possible now," Beth said, her heart sinking, forced to think of her shattered dreams. She had always wanted to follow her father in to some sort of medical career, either a veterinarian or doctor. She knew that was what he had wanted for her.

"What if it was?" Ryan said passionately, edging a little closer to her, arching an eyebrow.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Beth said with a small nervous laugh.

"This isn't a game, Beth, I've shown you things before, you're good. How about I teach you properly? Everything I can. You've already taken on completely everything that I've shown you so far." His voice was calm and collected watching her every move.

Beth gulped.

"Listen, you don't have to answer now, it's a big commitment. You need to be fully on board with it. Think about it," he said with genuine sincerity in his voice

"There is nothing to think about," Beth said clearly, nodding her head firmly when in reality she wasn't sure if she could handle it. "_I'm in."_

…_._

Beth looked at Judith dreamily as she gently held her small hand, she was so tiny and precious still, her little helpless body strapped to the bed, her arm attached to an IV drip as she drifted in and out of sleep.

Beth then thought to Ryan, just when she had thought she had him all figured out, he went and threw another curve ball at her. No-one had ever valued her like he had earlier. He really thought she had it in her to save peoples lives, like he had Judith's.

Snapped out of her trance, Beth looked up as she heard footsteps approaching the room. Watching the door handle slowly twist open, her wide blue eyes enlarged in anticipation of who was approaching.

"Hey," Maggie said with a small smile, poking her head around the door.

Beth put her finger up to her lips to quieten her sister, as she felt Judith's delicate little hand relax underneath her own, signalling the little girl was finally in a deep sleep.

"Okay, to come in?" Maggie asked quietly, tiptoeing in to the room to perch down beside Beth.

"Sure, she won't wake now," Beth said smiling softly, her eyes back on Judith again, putting her fingers up to lightly stroke the side of the little girl's face underneath the big dressing placed over her left eye.

"Just wanted to check on her, she looks so peaceful," Maggie said smiling down at the little girl too.

"Yep," Beth agreed.

A minute or two of silence fell.

"What were you talking to Ryan about earlier?" Maggie said casually, breaking the silence, her eyes sliding across to her sister with curiosity.

"What?"

"I saw the two of you talking, it looked pretty serious," Maggie explained.

Beth felt herself blush a little, it was only Maggie, but she didn't like the idea of people watching her.

"Nothing much, he just wants to show me a few more things, so I can help out a bit more around here, in case of emergencies and stuff," Beth said her eyes still on Judith.

"He likes you," Maggie blurted out.

Beth blinked, remaining silent, shaking her head, her blonde ponytail swinging from side to side. She knew Maggie liked Ryan; he had saved Beth's life after all. But it really wasn't that black and white. Not everyone was as lucky as Maggie had been with Glenn.

"He does, Bethy, it's obvious to everyone," Maggie pressed, unfazed by her sisters silence.

"You guys should get married, have babies, they'd be beautiful," Maggie teased, grinning, raising her eyebrows, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"What makes you think I'd want to marry him?" Beth eventually retorted, arching her eyebrows back at her older sister, breaking in to a small chuckle too.

The laughter trailed off.

"You just can't see what's right in front of you," Maggie said quietly and more seriously, her eyes staring in to Beth's.

Beth's blue eyes blinked some more, she didn't say anything. She knew when Maggie got an idea in to her head, it was near impossible to change it.

"Maybe it's not me you need to be saying that to," she eventually mumbled.

Maggie chewed her lip, her brow knitting together in confusion, about to challenge her sister again.

"Something's wrong," Beth suddenly exclaimed, her hand touching Judith's head.

"She's burning up and her breathing is quickening. We need to get Ryan," she said breathlessly.

…..

"She's become resistant to the antibiotics," Ryan said, his face full of concern, stepping out of Judith's room to address the group that had gathered around waiting outside it anxiously, the news Judith was in trouble again had spread quickly.

Rick held both his palms together pressing them against his lips, unable to speak for a moment.

"We don't have any more Zithromax? We could switch to that, it would work fast?" Isobel questioned, her eyes flashing desperately at her brother from where she was stood next to Rick.

Ryan shook his head despondently in response. "Only enough for a day, two at most, won't be enough."

"Where can we get some more?" Rick suddenly spoke up.

"We've raided every pharmacy and hospital within 100 miles, everything's gone now. We got plenty of drugs, just not.." Ryan said, looking from Rick to Isobel and then on to Jack, their leader standing deep in thought over to the side of the room.

"Think, there must be somewhere else," Rick cut in desperately, his face lined with worry.

"I got an idea." It was Daryl that spoke.

All eyes suddenly turned to where Daryl had been stood back, quiet and surly until now.

"There any animal hospitals around here?" Daryl said. Remembering the flu outbreak back at the prison, they had found all the drugs they had needed in a veterinarian college.

"What?" Isobel said her voice sceptical.

Rick too looked on sceptically, "I err…don't think.."

"He's right," Ryan interrupted. "It's the same stuff, big pharma just like to package it differently."

"Well, there must be dozens of veterinary practices around here," Jack said addressing everyone.

"Already been through them all, got everything we could from them months ago," Ryan said, shaking his head some more.

"There's a large equestrian centre we used to go to, Brackenwood, right Maggie," Beth said excitedly, looking at her sister for confirmation. The days of them riding before the turn, seeming like a distant memory now.

"Beth, that's got to be at least around 200 miles away from here, maybe more, it's over a day away," Maggie said.

"I know, but it was big, they had vets based on site, remember? I did work experience there one summer. I know they had medication, lots of it. No-one would think to look there. It was pretty well hidden," Beth said, taking a deep breath feeling her cheeks reddening with all eyes on her. It was times like this she missed her father more than ever, the wisdom of Hershel never failed to win people over, unlike the naive young girl they perceived her to be.

"I say it's worth a shot," Rick said, his blue eyes turning away from Beth to address Jack again looking to gain his support. Rick knew he wasn't in charge here. One way or another he would find the medication for his little girl, but he would like to have the backing of the people here to get it.

"I dunno, it seems like a long shot, a risk," Jack responded.

"Listen, man. This aint negotiable, I'm going with or without your backing, that's my little girl's life on the line." Rick replied firmly, his voice strong and authoritive once again.

Jack nodded his head, his eyes locking with Rick's.

"Nah, you need to be here…for asskicker, I'll go," Daryl said, turning his head to shoot his former leader and friend a defiant look.

Rick didn't argue, nodding gratefully back at Daryl. Daryl's loyalty and willingniess to risk his life for them never ceasing to amaze him.

"I'll go with you," Ryan suddenly said, looking at Jack to catch his eye for confirmation before turning back to Daryl, "I know what to look for and you'll need back up."

"You can't go, Ryan," Isobel said her voice wobbling slightly, "We'll need you here for Judith, in case something happens. I won't be able to handle it on my own."

"I'll go," Maggie piped up next, glancing over at Glenn to where his concerned eyes had rushed to her face.

"No," he mouthed to her.

"I have to, for Lori," Maggie said, her eyes welling with emotion.

Beth looked on at her sister, sharing in her pain. She knew the day Judith had been born would haunt Maggie forever. Losing Lori in that way had hit them all hard, but Maggie would never forget the sacrifice she'd had to make to ensure Judith lived.

"Well, then I'll come too, you'll need more than two people anyway," Glenn said.

"I'm going as well," Beth who had been quiet up until this point added loudly, looking to Daryl, feeling herself shaking a little.

He didn't say anything but his dark blue eyes met hers straight on, the deep expression in them took Beth back to the time when it had just been the two of them and for a moment _everything stopped._

Maggie turned to her younger sister snapping her back to reality, shaking her head, "Beth…"

"I'm going, Maggie. It makes sense, I know what the stuff looks like and where it is kept, how to get in there quickly and get it out." Beth argued fiercely, her eyes filling with the same steely determined look she always got when she felt passionately about something, when she refused to give in.

"Well, come on then, what we waiting for," Daryl said impatiently, throwing his crossbow over his shoulder, turning to walk out the room, looking up through the edges of his long dark hair to catch Beth's eye once again, as he gestured with his head towards the door.

**A/N - Thanks for reading. Please leave a review with your thoughts, if you have the time. :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N- As always, thanks for reading and reviewing everyone. I am really enjoying taking things in a different direction to the show. So pleased other people are enjoying it too!**

* * *

><p>Daryl glanced in to his rear view mirror, hitting the horn on the car impatiently. "Come on, people, we aint got all day," he yelled out.<p>

"Alright, alright, Jeez..What is his problem?" Maggie remarked, rolling her eyes, from where she was crouched down on the ground by the car, shovelling bottles of water, some canned food and a couple of packets of baby wipes in to her backpack for their trip. She looked across to where Daryl was sat in the car already, muttering, "Don't he want us to eat?"

Beth shifted her gaze from where her sister was kneeling on the ground to where Daryl was sat in the driver seat of the car fiddling with something on the dashboard.

She opened the door to slide in to the backseat. Catching Daryl's eye in the mirror for a split second, she flashed him a small smile as he simply grunted something and nodded at her in return.

"You got the map?" Maggie said bossily, joining Beth in the backseat.

"Uh huh," Beth responded, reaching in to her jacket pocket to feel the crumpled piece of paper Ryan had handed her moments before.

"We're taking Ryan's car?" Glenn queried, as he got in to the passenger seat next to Daryl in the front.

"It's the fastest one we got here," Beth explained from behind him.

Glenn nodded in response, as Daryl revved the engine, placing his hand on the head rest behind him, tilting his head looking through his long dark hair to reverse the powerful car back with speed. Manoeuvring it so they faced the exist, slowly driving through as the gates opened.

Beth blinked as she took one last look behind her at the place she had so happily called her home for the past few months, a safe haven with people she had grown to love. She had been outside the community before on numerous occasions, but never as far as the journey they were planning on partaking this time. She had gone out mainly with Ryan, having wanted to help out, knowing she was fast and good at killing walkers when she had to. But they had all been fairly straightforward supply runs to local places. Beth knew the trip to her old equestrian centre to find the medicine for Judith, came with far more risks attached to it.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I'm going to miss that place," Maggie said, looking at Beth as they drove away from the safezone, none of their group had found it easy at first, despite Beth being there, to fully trust the new people, but Maggie now saw it as the closest thing to a home they'd had since the prison.

"Guess we were all wrong and there are some good people left in the world." Maggie continued.

Beth didn't say anything, instead she glanced in to the rear view mirror again just at the right moment to catch Daryl's eye. Neither of them had to speak, the look was enough.

They drove on, passing the remains of burned out cars, piles of dead corpses and a couple of deserted buildings. A landscape that once would have carried such horror, but now just appeared normal. Beth wound down the window to get some air, the gentle breeze lightly blowing some loose whips of her blonde hair across her face. She closed her eyes. She wasn't really in the mood for small talk. Her stomach was churning with anxiety, anticipating what could be ahead. Maggie had other ideas though.

Leaning over to touch Beth's arm, she said, "Ryan mentioned earlier about his plans to teach you a few things, sounds pretty cool."

Beth nodded her head in agreement, her blue eyes lighting up, "Yeah, I mean I'll only be assisting."

"Chance to have some alone time too," Maggie teased, smiling.

"Y'know, it aint like that," Beth protested.

"Yet," Maggie teased some more, before she knitted her brows together her smile fading as she looked at the silent expression on Beth's face. She was still confused by her younger sister's reaction to the fact a guy as hot as Ryan so obviously had a thing for her.

"Ryan has Isobel too, she's an obstetrician, but she knows a lot of other general medical things as well," Beth pointed out.

"Isobels a baby doctor?" Maggie remarked, her eyes widening. She hadn't known the exact speciality of Ryan's sister, only that she was another doctor of some sorts.

"Could come in handy, eh Glenn?" Daryl quipped with a smirk from the front, his eyes turning to Glenn next to him for a split second with amusement.

Glenn raised his eyebrows, shaking his head with an awkward smile.

Beth's eyes immediately shifted to Daryl in the front, his hands were on the steering wheel, eyes staring straight ahead as he drove. His comment had taken her by surprise. She hadn't been aware that he had had been listening to her conversation with Maggie in the back. Or that he would come out with a remark like that.

Beth then looked back to Maggie, her sister appearing deep in thought all of a sudden.

Beth adored babies and the thought of anyone having one, especially her sister, filled her with delight. But it also made her overwhelmingly nervous, Lori's death and Judith's early days showing her how brutal both childbirth and keeping a newborn alive could really be in the dark world now. Silently Beth prayed that no-one she cared about would fall pregnant again with the world the way it was.

They drove on for the next couple of hours in silence; they passed a few more derelict buildings and a couple of random walkers hovering here and there, but never enough to cause them any problems. Beth allowed her eyes to close again the rhythm of the engine lulling her in to a gentle sleep this time, the atmosphere in the car turning calm and somewhat more peaceful, as they drove on through the post apocalyptic scenery.

Suddenly the brakes on the car were hit hard, causing the vehicle to screech to a halt as Daryl slammed his foot down.

Beth's eyes flung open. Expecting to see a herd of walkers or some other deadly obstruction on the road responsible for their sudden and dramatic stop, throwing her harshly back in to reality, from where she had been daydreaming contently in the backseat of the car moments before.

Instead all she could make out ahead was just more of the same empty deserted stretch of road they had been travelling on for hours.

"What the?..." Maggie said, her eyes jolting open too, from where she had been dozing next to Beth. "Why did we stop?" She said to Daryl.

"There was a sign," Daryl grunted from the front.

"A what?" Beth asked.

"A sign for a hospital, on the left," he explained. "We can walk it from here. Be quieter."

"You felt the need to break like that nearly killing us all, because you saw a sign for a hospital that's probably overrun and cleaned out by now anyway," Maggie said to Daryl, her voice full of frustration.

"God damn it, didn't you hear me? There was a sign for a hospital, they might have the meds we need there," Daryl snapped. He looked to Glenn seated next to him, then back to where Beth was sat directly behind him in the backseat.

"Ryan said they'd already been through all the hospitals in this area," Beth said hesitantly. She could tell Daryl wasn't in the best of moods and to tread carefully.

"Well maybe he ain't been through this one. Which is why we gotta go and check it out," Daryl said even more gruffly, turning back to look at Glenn for his support.

"I dunno, seems like a big risk. It's probably overrun. If we're not sure there will even be anything there, we might just lose time getting to Brackenwood. We'd be better saving our energy," Glenn debated.

Daryl shook his head, undoing his seatbelt. "What is wrong with you people? There is a hospital right here. We might not need to go all the way to that damn horse place. if there is any small chance we can get what we need here for asskicker, I'm taking it. I'm going in with or without you."

He stepped out the car, slamming the door shut behind him, throwing his crossbow over his shoulder.

"We gotta go with him," Beth said forcefully, undoing her seatbelt too.

...

"Thought y'all were busy sitting on your asses back in the car," Daryl said with a moody scowl, glancing back to see Beth, Maggie and Glenn on his heel as they approached the rundown site of what looked like in another world had been a busy hospital of some sorts.

"Some people really need to lighten up….. I _swear_ he needs to get laid soon," Maggie muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes in response to Daryl's mood. Causing Glenn to smirk under his breath and Beth to widen her eyes.

Oblivious to Maggie's words, approaching the entrance Daryl raised his crossbow, "Stay back," he hissed in a whisper, peering through the windows in the double doors leading in to the building.

"How many?" Glenn questioned seriously.

"Aint too many, maybe ten or eleven….. twelve at most," Daryl responded, gesturing with his hand for them to get closer.

Beth felt her fingers trembling slightly as she gripped the trigger on her gun. Before the outbreak she had never even held a gun before, now she knew confidently how to fire one, having killed many walkers. But still she could never quite get used to the anticipation of another walking killing spree.

Daryl rattled the rusty chain on the door, whoever had been there last hadn't secured it very well as it fell apart with ease. Bursting the doors open with a hefty kick, he gestured again with his arm for the others to get closer. Edging inside he instinctively wanted to turn around and check Beth was there and that she was okay, but there was no time.

Everything happened so fast.

Alerted by the noise of the doors, the group of rotting moving corpses made their way towards them, snapping their blackened teeth as they picked up speed. Daryl was quick to start firing his crossbow, immediately knocking the closest two walkers to the ground, Beth, Maggie and Glenn, taking out the rest.

Having quickly switched to her knife to save her bullets, Beth's reactions were fast, lunging for the nearest beasts heading her way, she was able to taken them out with relative ease.

"We should probably split up, be quicker to search," Daryl said as they made their way further in to the seemingly now empty building, having eliminated the immediate and obvious walker obstructions.

"We'll head this way," Maggie said to Glenn, gesturing towards some doors to the left.

"Meet back here," Daryl ordered, his tone low and serious.

...

Beth was suddenly hit with an overwhelmingly cold shiver, feeling it running straight across her as she silently followed Daryl down the dim deserted hospital corridor. The faint nauseating stench of stale disinfectant, mixed with blood, sweat and death, was hitting her with sharp painful memories of her time trapped back at Grady without the others. She had vowed after that never to set foot in another hospital again. But this was different, she was here for Judith.

Daryl slowed down his pace a little, aware Beth was trailing behind. He looked back at her slight figure following him. Noticing the look on her face had become haunted all of a sudden.

He silently caught her eye, his dark blue eyes deep and expressive as he gestured with his head for her to keep up with him. Even if he had known what to say to her at that moment, Daryl knew there was no time for small talk. They had a job to do and the sooner they could search the rundown old hospital, the quicker they could get the hell out of there and back to some place safer.

"Look," Beth said focusing in on a faded signpost in front of her. "Says that way to the pharmacy," she exclaimed, pointing to a set of double doors to her right.

Remaining silent still, Daryl marched over to the doors.

"Stay there," he ordered as he peered through, noticing a few stray walkers lurking behind, nothing they couldn't handle, four at the most. He waved her over to join him, carefully opening the doors. He had an arrow in his hand ready to take them out as the walking corpses clumsily wandered over in his direction. He felt confident they wouldn't be a problem, knowing Beth could take out any stragglers he didn't get to in time.

Beth had her knife raised again, poised for action. Her senses fully alerted as she watched Daryl in front destroying the foul corpses coming their way. She darted forwards, ready to assist as he struggled with one particularly tall male. When she suddenly felt something gripping her ankle, stifling a scream, she felt herself fall to the floor. Looking down she saw rotting exposed teeth desperately trying to take a chunk out of her calf. It was one of the walkers she had presumed Daryl had dealt with. It still had some life in it.

'_Not here, not now'_ she thought to herself.

Using all her strength and determination she pulled herself up to sitting, her fingers firmly clutching her knife. Seconds away from having deadly jaws sinking in to her flesh, she plunged the blade deep in to its revolting decaying scull. Causing it to release its hold on her as it dropped backwards. Beth relaxed and suddenly everything went silent for a moment.

Bending down to retrieve his arrow, Daryl had heard what sounded like a small scream behind him. He turned around immediately in horror, to see Beth lying back on the ground. Dashing to her side, his heart thundering in his chest, he grabbed her arm shaking her violently.

"Beth, Beth," Beth heard a soft male voice say. Slowly regaining her senses she felt another hand gripping her tightly, only this time it was around her upper arm not her ankle and it felt warm and firm, not cold and dead. Her round blue eyes blinked as she opened them fully to see Daryl's strong arm pulling her to her feet.

"Can you walk?" he said, noticing her hobbling a little on her ankle.

"I'm fine," she mumbled, smoothing down her hair. "It's nothing," she lied, aware she had gone over again on her bad ankle again, it never having healed properly from the time she had caught it in a trap back in the woods. her head was also throbbing from where she had hit it falling back on the hard ground.

Daryl's eyes lingered on her a little longer, before satisfied she was okay he released his grip on her arm.

"Come on, it's clear," he said moving forwards with urgency.

They walked the remaining distance following the signs to the pharmacy in silence. Daryl throwing the occasional glance in Beth's direction, he knew she was tough, that she could take care of herself these days. But that didn't stop him from still being a little shaken up by what had just happened. He had lost too many people now, to be aware that one careless mistake could cost everything. Losing Beth at this point would be unbearable to him and he made a mental note to himself to keep a closer track of where she was.

"Here," he said, as they arrived at what looked like used to be the reception to the pharmacy.

He walked straight behind the front desk, to where there was another door to room behind he presumed all the drugs were stored in. It looked as though at one time, when the hospital would have been busy and thriving the door would have been safely locked with a key card system, now it looked as though it had been bashed in several times already. He twisted the handle and it opened with ease. Pushing it quickly forwards, not hearing any immediate sounds, he went to take a step cautiously inside.

Before suddenly he heard the all too familiar snarling and growling of the dead.

A much larger group of walkers were clustered on the other side. Attracted by the movement of the door, they were furiously reaching out with their foul twisted limbs, snapping their ugly rancid mouths at him. He used all his power to force the door back on them, but there were just too many and it was too late for him to be able to shut it fully, the noise only exciting more of them.

"Find the others, wait for me outside," he yelled to Beth.

Beth's eyes widened with horror. "I'm not leaving you," she insisted.

Seeing the look on Daryl's face it took Beth back to the time he had demanded back at the funeral home, that she left him to wait outside on the road. Right before she had been taken. There was no way she was going to make that mistake again.

"We can clear them," she yelled fiercely. Realizing he wouldn't be able to hold them back much longer.

"I mean it, I ain't leaving you, _ever,_" she said again, their eyes locking together enlightening their deep unspoken connection. "Today is not the day I am going to die," she added, her eyes still fixed on his.

Daryl looked from Beth's determined face, to the group of walkers behind gathering momentum on the other side of the door and he knew there was little point or time to argue with her. They would have to take their chances. He had fucked up once trying to keep her safe. This time he would just have to have a little more faith in her being able to keep herself safe.

Slowly he moved back from the door.

Running on an intense stash of adrenaline neither of them had been completely aware they'd had before, they both immediately started smashing their blades in to the brains of the walkers, working with precision and stealth, again and again. They were lucky, this particular group seemed especially clumsy and un-coordinated, giving them time to fight them off one by one, until they were down to the last three.

Beth stabbed her bloodied knife in to the nearest one to her, looking in Daryl's direction to see him throwing another one back against the wall. She was just about to put her knife away, when she realized there was still one final one left un-dealt with. Watching in terror, everything then seemed to happen in slow motion, as she she saw the final walker flinging itself in the direction of Daryl's back.

Before she even had the chance to think about what she was doing, Beth found her knife embedded deep in to the back of the last standing walker's skull and it was on the floor motionless.

Catching his breath Daryl turned around, looking from the walker on the ground to Beth. He noticed her lower lip was trembling, her blonde hair falling messily out if it's neat ponytail tumbling around her startled face.

"Thanks," he said, his pulse racing furiously stil, realizing she had just saved his life.

Beth wanted to move towards him, to wrap her arms around his neck and bury herself in his muscular chest, to slowly breathe with him. But she knew it wasn't the time or the place. They had to keep going.

She moved first, walking through the door, allowing herself to let out a small sigh of relief. She went to pull her backpack off her aching shoulders, in order to enable her to move around the room quicker to search every possible place for the medicine they so desperately needed to find, glancing back to reassure herself Daryl was still right behind her.

"_Shit,"_ it was Daryl that said it first. Both looking up at the exact same time their hearts sinking, staring at a whole new group of walkers heading straight for them from a door to the back of the room.

Beth pulled her knife out again, her whole body shaking with a new fear. They had been lucky so far, but it had taken a lot out of them and this new threat looked faster and even more blood thirsty than the previous ones.

Daryl quickly scanned the room before he grabbed Beth's arm, "Run," he said, pulling her towards him.

"There is no-where to run," Beth replied, her voice raised over the sound of the walkers.

Daryl knew he had to act fast again, raising his cross bow he fired, knocking out as many as he could, but it wasn't enough.

They kept coming.

Until, suddenly a different type of noise filled the air. Gunshots. Loud and clear. _Bang bang bang! F_ast and furious, eliminating all the walkers in minutes.

"Everyone okay," Glen yelled, as he and Maggie stepped in to full view.

Beth immediately ran to her sister, she had never been so glad to see her in her life, giving her a brief hug, before breaking apart to face her.

"We thought it made sense to find the pharmacy too," Maggie explained. "We've been through the other side, everywhere seems pretty clear now."

…..

"Everything's gone," Beth said despondently after several minutes of the four of them ransacking every drawer and cupboard in the now empty room.

Beth had managed to find some ibuprofen stashed away behind an old office manual and a couple of bandages that she had stuffed in to her backpack, but that had been it, everything else had been taken.

"Whats this?" Glen questioned holding up a large pink box.

"Zantac, it's for indigestion," Beth responded taking it from him to examine, dropping it in to her backpack too, seeing it was still in date.

"Because thats such a common problem these days," Daryl said, smirking in Beth's direction as he rifled through one final top shelf of boxes reaching up to grab one lodged right in to the far corner.

"Whoa," Daryl exclaimed, losing his balance with the box as it tumbled to the ground, dozens of shiny red foil wrappers spilling out of it and across the ground by his feet.

"Are they?" Glenn said, his eyes lighting up as everyone stopped what they were doing to look to the floor around Daryl.

"Jackpot," Maggie said breaking in to a wide smile crouching down to scoop them up and back in to the box.

"You must have stumbled across the family planning shelf," she said, looking up at Daryl to see he looked a little flustered all of a sudden.

"Condoms," Beth said, raising her eyebrows at Maggie.

"Yep, probably a few hundred," Maggie responded, lifting the box in to her arms.

"You can't take em back, we haven't got room," Beth said, looking from the big box in her sister's arms to Glenn who just shrugged with an apologetic smile.

"Beth, we have a whole car," Maggie said, rolling her eyes.

Beth then turned her attention back to Daryl who was stood back watching silently, his expression blank and unreadable as her eyes flitted across his face.

"Come on," he muttered gruffly marching towards the door, signalling for the others to follow on.

…

"You okay?" Maggie said to Beth in a low voice as they arrived back at the car.

"Sure, I'm fine," Beth said, forcing a weak smile, leaning back against the side of the car.

"You don't look fine, you've gone very pale, like you're going to throw up," Maggie replied, her eyes full of concern.

"Honestly I'm fine, just a little dehydrated," Beth repeated, not wanting to make a big deal out of how shaken up she was and how much her ankle and head were hurting her, aware Daryl and Glenn were now looking her way too.

"Why don't you ride in the front?" Glenn said kindly.

Beth remained glued to the spot by the car door.

"We got to get going, need to find this damn horse centre now as soon as we can," Daryl urged, opening the front passenger side door for Beth, before she could say anything else

…..

"You got the map? Need to check the route," Daryl said to Beth as they set off again, driving slowly down more eerily deserted roads as dusk was starting to creep in.

"Yep," Beth said, pulling it out of her pocket to unfold and hand it to him, a small piece of paper falling out of it and on to her lap.

She glanced down, her cheeks blushing as she saw two words scribbled in Ryan's hand writing, _Be Safe x_

"What's that?" Daryl asked as he took the map from her.

Beth's blue eyes looked back at him as she smiled awkwardly and shook her head. "Ah nothing," she replied, without even thinking about it, looking back in his direction to see his eyes were still on her, before he glanced down to focus on the map.

"Be dark soon. We'll need to find somewhere to stop for the night," Beth said a small tingle hitting her insides, looking across at Daryl next to her as they drove on again.

Daryl didn't reply, his eyes remaining straight in front of him, gazing out in to the long unknown stretch of road ahead.

"Best to just keep going," he eventually grumbled.

Beth didn't say anything further. Although she knew full well there was no way she was going to let him drive straight all through the night. He might be stubborn as hell, but so was she. He needed rest now, they all did in order to get back to full strength because who knew what their next stop would bring. As soon as they came across somewhere safe they would stop for the night. She would make sure of that.

**A/N - Thanks again for reading, please leave a review if you have time :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N - Thanks again for the reviews and support for this story. I know a lot of you are getting keen for something more to happen with Beth and Daryl (I am too), and I promise there are good things to come, but I don't think it would be a realistic for it to be too easy and uncomplicated, (this is Daryl), lol! I would also like to address a few frustrations some of you have brought up about Maggie, this will change soon. In her defence, at the moment, she just sees a hot caring guy that rescued her sister. Beth's happiness and wellbeing will always be her number one priority though... **

**This next chapter was quite long, so this is part one, part two up very soon.**

Beth gazed out on to the dimly lit road in front of her, the natural light from the sun fading fast. Flopping her head back against the head rest of the passenger seat, she twisted it to look directly at Daryl sat beside her in the drivers seat, her eyes resting on his surly face.

His expression was serious, his eyes narrowed, gripping the steering wheel. There was anguish etched in to his features.

"It was the right thing to do," Beth spoke up, breaking the tense silence for a second.

She wasn't sure if he had heard her at first.

Eventually he grunted something ineligible, allowing his troubled eyes for the briefest moment to slide over catching her bright blue ones straight on, before they were looking straight back on the road again, his fingers visibly tightening on the steering wheel.

"Stopping back there, it was the right thing to do," Beth continued.

She could tell he was beating himself up about making the wrong call and putting them all in unnecessary danger back at the hospital.

He didn't respond further. But Beth wasn't done.

"We could have found the medicine there, there was a chance and that meant it was worth the risk," she persisted. "We got a years supply of condoms out of it too," she said playfully, her eyes lighting up.

He shook his head causing his scraggly hair to move, his face still serious at first, before he cocked an eyebrow, causing his dark blue eyes to sparkle for a moment, the darkness disappearing from them just for a second. Taking Beth by surprise.

"It was the right call," she repeated softly.

Sensing he wasn't exactly comfortable with the conversation, she dropped it. But one final search of his face told her, her words had been heard and on some small level they were appreciated.

Once again silence wrapped itself around Beth as they drove on.

Daryl preferred to drive in silence, stealing the occasional glance at Beth sat next to him. He could see she looked weary, the fight from earlier having shaken them all up and he wondered whether that kind of shit would ever stop taking its toll on their sanity. He could see dark circles were forming under her eyes and her hair was falling out of its blonde pony tail. But she still looked beautiful, he'd never be able to vocalise that thought, but it was there, it always had been. She would never stop being beautiful to him, inside and out.

He had spent so long thinking he would never see her again and now despite his sullen mood, he couldn't deny it was great to be near her again, the close proximity of the car, making him all too aware of her presence.

"Put one of those CD's on or something?" Daryl suddenly said, breaking the silence, fumbling with a black sleeve of CD's that had been tucked away in the car.

Beth smiled to herself, taking it from him and sliding one out, carefully slipping it in to the CD player.

"No sound," Daryl said.

At the exact same moment they both reached for the volume dial, their fingers brushing, causing a brief zap of electricity to rush up Beth's arm. The electricity confused her. It made her long to feel his touch some more. It reminded her of a time when it had just been the two of them and just the slightest touch from him had offered her immeasurable comfort. So much had changed since then, but moments like this it was as though time had stood still.

She looked away, blushing slightly, biting down on her lip.

"Hells this?" Daryl said gruffly, wrinkling his brow, as loud music flooded the car.

"It's the only one that works now, Arctic Monkys. They're a British rock band." Beth explained with a small smile at Daryl's unimpressed face. And it suddenly hit her just how weird it was to be in Ryan's car, listening to his music with Daryl. When she had been sat in this very spot with Ryan so many times.

"I know who they are," Daryl mumbled.

Beth pressed her lips together, "Should stop soon, we need to eat and get some rest." Weariness in her voice as she resisted the urge to yawn. A wind picking up outside, as the sky turned a darker shade of grey, shaking the car a little.

Slowing down to avoid a branch in the road, Daryl muttered a curse under his breath ignoring her. Avoiding answering the question he put his foot down and sped on.

Beth sighed and tuned to look out the window again, shifting around to get comfortable. Glancing back at Daryl she let out an amused smile, noticing his fingers drumming along in time to the music on the steering wheel.

Catching her looking out of the corner of his eye, Daryl turned back, his gaze shifting off the road for long enough this time to shoot her a confused look. She arched an eyebrow in response, breaking in to a chuckle.

He shrugged abruptly in response. But his eyes were less serious. She didn't see it very often, but Beth was sure she detected his mouth curling up in to the faintest of smiles.

She giggled nervously.

"What?" he said out loud this time, frowning.

"Nothing," she replied, her cheeks flushing a little more, her blue eyes sparkling.

"What?" he said again not letting it drop, his eyes flashing curiously, frowning a little more.

"It's just you're….you're not like other guys," Beth went on to say quietly. She wasn't quite sure what had made her say that, but she had said it.

His brow wrinkled with more confusion, his eyes still on her.

"Watch out," Beth shrieked, as he slammed on the breaks. The car screeching to a halt in the middle of the road as it slammed in to a dark figure in the middle of the road.

"Whoa, what was that?" Glenn spoke up from where he and Maggie had been sat behind Beth and Daryl on the backseat.

As soon as the engine was shut off, Daryl had bolted up and out the car examining the obstruction on the road.

Beth stepped out of the car quickly too, followed by Glenn and Maggie.

"Just a pile of damn dead walkers," Daryl said looking over at them, "Someone must have dumped em here or something, no telling what happened, we'll just need to clear em, won't take long."

"Wait, we're nearly out of gas anyway, maybe we should think about stopping for the night, before it's completely dark," Beth reasoned, her arms folded.

"Nah, we need to keep going," Daryl said moving back towards the car.

"He's right, there aint exactly any hotels around here to stop at, we brought enough gas with us for the trip, just need to fill up again. I say we keep going," Maggie agreed.

"We could try and find somewhere to rest round here, or just sleep in the car, pick up the journey again in the daylight." Beth debated hesitantly.

"We can take it in turns to sleep in the car on the road, someone would need to stay up to keep watch anyway" Maggie said, looking to Glenn and Daryl.

"Wait, where are we?" Glenn suddenly asked.

"Right about here," Beth said, pulling the map out of her pocket again, pointing with her finger to the rough spot she had calculated they were at now.

"I know a place," he said with a small grin.

…

"What is this place?" Maggie was the first to ask.

A short walk later Glenn had led them to what appeared to be a run down building with an overgrown car park, hidden by scruffy looking high gates surrounding it. On closer inspection, getting a better look they could see there was a large red sign outside, like everything now it was broken, but it was intact enough for them to see it would once have been red dazzling and neon lit saying something that looked like, _Starlit Motel._

"It's a motel," Glenn answered with a slightly more apprehensive smile this time, glancing from Maggie to Beth and Daryl.

"Damn whore house," Daryl mumbled.

The place looked pretty seedy, weeds were growing through the cracks in the concrete path leading up to it, rotting litter was strewn across the car park with no telling how long it had been there for, but strangely enough there were no signs of the dead. No corpses anywhere and no living walkers either.

"How'd you know about this place?" Beth queried, her blue eyes wide and inquisitive.

Glenn's eyes looked away from the group for a moment aware he was suddenly centre of attention as he winced a little and said, "My cousin used to run this place, it needed a little work, but was a pretty popular little night stop back in the day."

"Your cousin owned it? Well, I guess we should go and check it out then," Maggie said.

"There's a back entrance, will be safer that way," Glenn said.

"Damn whore house," Daryl muttered again and Beth shot him a look to see he was smirking, as the group cautiously led by Glenn looked to make their way inside.

"Place is completely clear," Glenn said in a low voice, from where he was leading the group up some side steps to a walkway with a rows of doors on the first floor. He stopped and tried one, it opened straight away.

"This is a family room, we should be alright in here," he explained, stepping inside.

Beth looked to Daryl again to see his face was deadly serious now, his crossbow raised and ready from where he was stood directly behind her, bringing up the rear.

"Don't look like anyone has touched this place at all," Daryl muttered confused, as once inside they all looked around the room.

"Guess it's a bit off the beaten track," Maggie said as confusion crossed their faces.

"Even the dead don't wanna come near it," Daryl quipped at Glenn.

"Listen guys, this was my cousin's place, not mine," Glenn said, holding his hands up. He knew it was slightly on the dodgy side and he hadn't made a habit of hanging out here before the turn, only on the few occasions his cousin had called him up, dragging him out here wanting a favour of some sorts. But those days seemed like a distant memory to him now.

Glenn went quiet for a moment wondering what had happened to his cousin, to all his family even. It was moments like this that hit home, everyone they had ever known before the turn, was gone now. Life would never be the same.

"Well whatever, looks alright to me, it's got four walls and a roof," Maggie said, opening another door leading on to an adjacent room with a large double bed in it.

"Okay if we take this one?" she said looking back at Beth.

"Sure," Beth said, shrugging. Looking back to Daryl, to see he was busy with his back to them barricading the door in with a table and two chairs.

...

Beth set her backpack down on the floor climbing on to the bed to catch her breath, her eyes scanning the room.

The whole place was run down, outdated, with saggy beds, a big clunky TV, old furniture, pictures that had fallen and were just propped against the wall, and worst of all, a very funky old smell was permeating the room, maybe the broken A/C unit mixed with stagnant smoke and stale body odour. But as unpleasant as it was, there wasn't even the faintest hint of the rotting unbearable stench of the dead that seemed to be permanently present in the world these days, it was weird. Daryl had been right Beth thought, it seemed untouched.

"This place is weird," Beth remarked, staring over in Daryl's direction to see he was still double checking the door. She could see the back of his scruffy dark hair and leather vest pushing his weight against the round table he had wedged underneath the door handle.

"Huh?" he muttered, reaching to take a cigarette out of his breast pocket. Satisfied the place was secure, he turned to face the young blonde, as he put it to his lips striking a match to light it.

"I said, this place is weird. I mean, I aint stayed anywhere like the before I guess, but…" she paused, drawing her knees up to hug them to her chest.

"I have," Daryl said gruffly, perching down on the edge of the bed beside her, taking a long drag of his cigarette shaking his dark hair out of his eyes, blowing the smoke across the room. "Lots of times," he added, turning his head to look at her through the edges of his hair, remembering the many times Merle had ordered him to some place like this back in their home town to take part in one or other of his dodgy dealings.

Beth looked away, not saying anything further; she knew Daryl knew better than to accuse her of judging any part of his past anymore. Instead she looked around a little more. It was no luxury; the room was large with a double bed sporting a dated fraying bed spread, seating area, and a small kitchenette area with a desk. But apart from the smell and dust it appeared to have been left fairly clean, Beth couldn't complain at that when she thought back to some of the places they'd had to bed down in over the past few years.

She hopped off the bed to open the door to the bathroom. It was small. But again there was no smell of blood or death, just drains and damp. She reached for the tap, turning it on to discover to her surprise running water, splashing a little on her face, she breathed out slowly.

Back in the main room, Beth found Daryl rummaging through what looked like a small mini bar to the side of the bed.

"Find anything?" She asked.

"Nah….except whoever was here last missed this," he said, throwing a small bottle of Jack Daniels down on to the bed.

Beth picked it up raising an eyebrow.

She looked over to where Daryl had moved back to the window. "I ain't never tried Jack Daniels," she said staring at it, biting her lower lip, tucking a loose strand of her blonde hair behind her ear.

"Thought you wanted to sleep," Daryl responded with irritation, twitching the net curtain to look out in to the moonlight, seeming on edge still.

"We should both sleep, wouldn't hurt to just have just a little though, take the edge off," Beth responded, twisting her mouth to the side, her bright blue eyes widening.

"I'm good," Daryl grumbled, glancing back at her, then back to the window, "I'll keep watch."

Beth sighed, her fingers tracing a pattern on the cold glass of the small bottle clutched in her hand. She smiled to herself, remembering another time in the not too distant past, "What you my chaperone again?" she teased, "Aint no-one getting in here now, Mr Dixon."

Daryl didn't reply, instead he silently looked back at her, his eyes deep and expressive as he fixed her with a meaningful look thinking back to the last time she had tempted him with alcohol, before he crossed the room to sit back on the bed with her again. He didn't take his eyes off her. They'd all been reunited for a while now, but still every now and then it hit him just when he had almost given up hope, _she was back._

He continued to watch her as she carefully unscrewed the lid on the bottle of whisky.

Beth gulped; perhaps Daryl was right she thought, thinking twice about taking a sip as she looked down at the bottle of golden brown liquid in her hand, a tense silence filling the room.

She jumped suddenly hearing what sounded like a bang against the wall by her head. Another bang followed, then another and it didn't take long for her to realize what it was. Her eyes looking to Daryl's, the look in his dark blue eyes too confirming it was definitely the sound of the headboard knocking against the wall in the adjacent room her sister and husband were in.

"Seriously gross," Beth muttered, instantly putting the bottle up to her dry lips to swig. Choking a little and wincing as the strong liquor burned the back of her throat, before hitting her with a warm glow as she coughed some more.

Daryl reached over with his hand to offer some assistance, but she waved him away, just holding out the bottle instead.

He took it straight away and drank. The noise coming from the next room making him feel a little on edge in a different way now.

"You think I should tell em to keep it down?" Beth joked awkwardly, trying to lighten the atmosphere a little. The group had joked about Maggie and Glenn sneaking off to have alone time together back at the prison on more than one occasion, but it had always made Beth feel a tad weird to think of her sister like that.

Daryl didn't respond. Instead he looked away taking another long swig from the bottle. Just as they heard a crash coming from outside the window and he was up and off the bed within seconds.

"Stay there," he said to Beth, darting back to the window with his crossbow.

Beth ignored him following him over to the window.

Daryl pulled back the curtain, revealing the silhouettes of two dark figures making their way across the car park below them. Both watching carefully they saw the mysterious strangers disappear from sight for a moment, before their footsteps could be heard slowly getting louder on the walkway outside their room.

Daryl silently handed the gun in his trouser pocket over to Beth, putting his finger up to his lips to warn her to be silent.

Remaining fixed to the spot by the window, they continued to watch as the two other survivors came in to sight at the start of the walkway on their floor. It was a man and a woman that was all they could make out. They didn't look particularly threatening, no visible signs of weapons out and on display. The guy had jet black hair, while the woman's was a lighter shade of brown.

"You think we should go out?" Beth whispered.

Daryl remained silent, shaking his head.

Beth knew better than to question his judgement as she stayed silently by his side.

Oblivious to their presence the strange couple walked directly past their window. Just as a loud clap of thunder hit and a gust of wind knocked in to a pile of discarded furniture outside the room as a sudden fast downpour of rain pelted down.

Beth could feel Daryl tensing beside her. Any sort of noise these days was bad news. They couldn't risk alerting walkers.

The strangers too appeared on high alert as they dived for shelter in to the room next to the one Beth and Daryl were currently in, shutting the door firmly behind them. Beth felt her fist clasp the gun in her hand tighter, adrenaline flooding her system as Daryl gestured for them to stay where they were a little while longer.

Everything went silent.

Around five minutes later, Daryl tapped Beth lightly on the arm, motioning for her to move. He had to admit he had no idea what the situation was with the other survivors in the next room. They could just be like them, looking for a place to stay, they could be good. But most probably they weren't, they were more than likely part of a larger group and Daryl knew only too well, even the good people were forced to do bad things now.

He sat back on the edge of the bed to think. Beth sitting down next to him, there was still subtle movement coming from the other side of the wall, where Maggie and Glenn were. Daryl was reluctant to interrupt them straight away; he wanted to formulate some sort of a plan first.

Beth swallowed, about to open her mouth to suggest something to Daryl as she stared at the wall to the other side of the room, wondering who the other survivors were and just what was going on on the other side of the wall. Before she got the chance to speak, there was a bang. Beth's wide blue eyes slid sideways catching Daryl's as they heard another bang and then a moan follow from the other side of the wall...

**A/N - Thanks for reading, if you have time please leave a review with your thoughts! I also just wanted to say, I am sorry if I have Maggie a little OOC here, I am aware she probably would have wanted them to all stay together at the motel, but I needed a way to get Beth and Daryl alone (and to make Daryl feel awkward, LOL!) :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N - This chapter was a really difficult one to write and it took much longer to put together than I thought. I'm a little nervous as it gets a little emotional just to warn you before reading, and I didn't actually intend it to be so intense, it just kind of wrote itself once I got going, but it addresses some important issues for Beth and Daryl, I hope you'll agree!**

The rain was still falling down steadily, lashing against the dirty glass of the window forming small puddles on the ground outside. Beth looked to Daryl sat silently next to her, the fabric of her jacket brushing against his bare arm, as a few more strange bangs and moans erupted from the room next to them. The room the two other survivors had disappeared in to in such a hurry.

She pressed her dry lips together, her round blue eyes searching Daryl's surly face to gauge his reaction.

He turned his head to peer at her through his long dark hair, his expression unreadable as he remained silent.

"Guess its true what they say bout these places then, only one reason people sneak off to em for," Beth said with a small embarrassed laugh. It was something her time with Ryan had taught her, no matter how bad or ridiculous the situation, look for the humour.

Daryl moved his head, but he still didn't speak straight away.

"Shoulda carried on, we could have been there and on our way back now, instead of being stuck here in this goddamn shithole." He eventually muttered gruffly, a deep scowl forming on his lips as he tried to ignore the sounds coming through both walls.

Beth shook her head, her blonde ponytail swinging from side to side as she let out a small sigh, her body visibly tense, "Don't seem all that bad here to me really, considering... Whats your problem?" she snapped back a little hurt, mirroring his tone.

A familiar painful thumping started in Daryl's heart, he fixed her with an intense stare, clearing his throat, "Used to live by a place just like this, couldn't have been more than bout four years old when my mother used to dump me right outside all day, while she went in to see her boyfriend….before..." he went quiet, trailing off, he was never normally so open with people about the specifics of his dark childhood, besides other things he simply couldn't stand the looks of pity and judgement.

There was no sign of any pity from Beth though, or judgement. Her young face was just looking straight at him, giving him her full attention and genuine interest.

Feeling uncomfortable all of a sudden, he glanced down at his boots, changing the subject, mumbling, "Should never of come here."

"We all needed to catch our breath and rest up back there, Daryl…..Besides, Ryan said they had enough of the stronger antibiotics for at least a couple of days…."

Beth broke off noticing Daryl's body language stiffen slightly at the mention of Ryan. She didn't want to make a big deal of it though, she knew Daryl didn't take to new people well, especially in situations where he felt out of place and judged. Daryl and Ryan couldn't be more different, having come from completely different worlds before the turn. It would be a while before they saw eye to eye, Beth knew that.

"I know you don't like him," she said quietly, looking away for a second too.

Daryl loosened his grip on his gun. "Never said that," he replied gruffly.

"If you get to know him, he's not that bad, he's just guarded….like you, but in a different way," she stopped talking, straightening her back up, sensing this wasn't a conversation he wanted to have.

Daryl looked from the gun in his hands back to Beth, relaxing back slightly.

His high alert for danger was slowly diminishing as he sat back more leisurely on the bed next to Beth, both now sitting with their backs against the headboard. He reached to the side for the Jack Daniels bottle they'd found earlier and took a long drawn out swig, hesitating before offering it to Beth.

Beth's blue eyes looked from the bottle back to Daryl. "Thought you didn't approve of drinking too much here," she teased with a small playful smile.

Daryl's lips curled up in to a side smirk, he shrugged his shoulders relaxing a little now, "Yeah, well don't look like we're going to get much trouble from Bonnie and Clyde there any time soon," he said gesturing to the wall with the bottle. "Looks like we'll just have to wait the storm out here now anyway, aint nothing else to do…"

Beth silently reached out and took the bottle from him, taking a more reserved swig. She hadn't planned on getting holed up in a cheap motel room drinking whisky with a moody Daryl, but there were certainly worse places she could be she thought as still clutching the bottle she muttered, "Should try and get some sleep I suppose."

"Go ahead, I'll stay up for a bit," Daryl replied, stretching his legs out. His thoughts returning to the other survivors, it was unusual to find other people these days. He knew if his brother had been here, he'd be hatching a plan to sneak up on them right now, rob them or kill them. Rick too would probably have confronted them by now also, demanding to know who they were.

He clasped his chin, rubbing it in between his thumb and forefinger becoming deep in thought for a moment. Eventually concluding that providing they weren't faced with any immediate threats, which seemed unlikely now, he'd wait till daylight and see what Glenn and Maggie thought too. They would have more of a chance to overpower the strangers that way he reasoned further. He didn't want to put Beth in any more unnecessary danger.

But all the same Daryl knew despite the exhaustion weighing down on his body, he wouldn't be getting any sleep for the rest of the night now, his hand moving down to feel the cold metal of his gun again, glancing to the side to see his crossbow was still lying right beside him should he need it in a hurry

He glanced sideways to see Beth had taken a small plastic pot out of her backpack, containing what looked like some solid white stuff. He watched with curiosity as she unscrewed the lid, putting her finger in to it and rubbing it on to her pink lips.

Beth looked back at him slightly embarrassed, "It's coconut oil," she explained rubbing her newly moistened lips together some more before tossing the pot back in to her backpack. "Isobel gave it to me, my lips get really dry and cracked and it has amazing anti bacterial properties, my Dad used to use it," she said quietly, half expecting him to snap again.

Instead he just shrugged. Remembering what a wise old man Beth's father had been.

Beth curled on to her side, closing her eyes to try and drift in to some sort of sleep, fidgeting a little for a few more minutes, before sighing and pulling herself back up to sitting. The noise coming from the other rooms still, together with the adrenaline from earlier still buzzing around her, were making it near impossible for her to doze off.

She rubbed her eyes, smoothing down the loose strands of hair falling around her face. The room was dark, but there was still a little light from the candles they had lit. Through the soft glow, she saw Daryl had moved back to the chair by the window.

Without saying anything she reached for the Jack Daniels bottle again, taking another small sip. Remembering what her mother used to say when her father had been out of earshot, 'a little nightcap' was the best cure for insomnia.

"Easy," Daryl piped up from where he was sat by the window, "This aint no college party."

Beth frowned, her eyes filling with irritation. But she didn't respond, placing the bottle back down.

"That chair looks like its seen better days," she remarked bluntly, observing Daryl's uncomfortable, stiff body language.

Her wide blue eyes travelling over to where he was sat upright in the battered old armchair, she didn't want to say what she was really thinking, that she would be far happier if he would come and sit back on the bed next to her. She didn't want to appear too weak or needy and she also didn't want to risk being snapped at again either. If he insisted on sitting up on the chair all night then she couldn't stop him.

Still not moving from the chair, he twisted around, holding his crossbow between his parted legs to face her fully.

Beth moved her eyes away from him, yawning she stretched her arms out to the side. She could sense a slight atmosphere between her and Daryl, which confused her a little. It couldn't just be about the drinking or the decision to stop for the night.

Letting out a sigh, Beth laid her cheek in her palm,"Sounds like they're all having more fun than we are," she said. "Not that I'd know really," she added with a shy nervous smile in Daryl's direction, wincing a little at her not so subtle way of mentioning she hadn't gone all the way with a man. "I mean, I'm guessing that sometimes it's overrated though," she babbled on, watching him carefully.

Daryl tried not to react as he listened to her talk, but her words had been heard loud and clear, unable to hide the slight twitch in his face, his eyes became intense as he couldn't help but fix her with his full attention

_"Is it?"_ Beth questioned hesitantly, her blue eyes blinking, fluttering her long eyelashes as she gazed at him, biting her lip in anticipation of what he would or wouldn't say next.

He continued to look at her, choosing to still not respond in actual words, instead moving his head in to a sort of casual shrug, flicking his hair, before his eye lit up slightly, and he moved his lips in to a sort of half smirk.

Beth's eyes narrowed as she shook her head looking away, letting out a brief nervous laugh, trying to work him out. She was getting good at reading him but she wished for once he would actually just come out and say what was in his head.

Instinctively she reached for a strand of her loose blonde hair, twirling it around her finger. She wasn't sure if it was the effects of the alcohol or maybe just the moment that made her gulp and go on to say, "I mean, I suppose if you're with someone you care about it's different though.." She bit her lower lip, feeling a flush of pink spread across her cheeks, her eyes flitting back to where he was sat looking at her still. This wasn't the kind of conversation you had with the surly Daryl Dixon.

Rubbing her now moistened lips together she studied Daryl's face some more, she could tell that she had made him feel a little uncomfortable now and that he wasn't completely sure how to respond. But Beth was curious. She wanted to know more about his past. He'd always seemed so introverted back at the prison, he'd opened up a little more when they had been alone together, but she knew next to nothing about his history with women. That remained a mystery.

She wondered if there had been someone, someone that had meant something, someone he'd cared about, loved even.

Through his long shaggy hair, his eyes remained balanced on her face, but his mouth stayed firmly closed as the subtle glow in them from moments before vanished. Not replaced by any obvious sadness, they just filled with emptiness.

This time Beth was the one to feel awkward, her big eyes sliding up the length of Daryl's face from the stubble on his jaw to the edges of his hair and his dark blue eyes. And she felt a sudden surge of sadness hit her that it appeared he had never experienced that kind of love, and once again curiosity hit her.

Daryl was a little rough around the edges, but he was strong, physically very fit and attractive, and it wasn't just his muscular arms and deep expressive eyes, he had a good heart, despite his sullen exterior he was caring, loyal and kind when it mattered, a world apart from his brash, obnoxious and pervy brother. Beth would have imagined Daryl would have had no shortage of female attention in his life. But he'd always appeared so indifferent to any kind of romance, seeming to not what or need anything like that, leading an almost celibate life.

If she was honest Beth just couldn't wrap her head around it.

She blinked some more, looking away from Daryl again and over to the far wall of the grotty motel room.

Sensing he was still looking at her, she glanced back in his direction just as he blurted out quickly, "Earlier, you said I wasn't like other guys, what d'ya mean?" His voice was gruff, but there was a sort of vulnerability to him as he looked at her intensely awaiting her response.

This time Beth was the one lost for words for a moment, his question had surprised her.

"You're.." she started hesitantly, looking up at him through her eyelashes again. She knew what she wanted to say, but putting it in to the exact right words was difficult, "There's no bull shit with you, you see things differently, you see things how they are, and you don't seem to care what people think so much either.." she broke off, not sure if she was doing the best job of explaining how she thought he was so much better than the majority of guys she had known in her lifetime.

He looked away, sniffed and rubbed the side of his nose, "Don't I?" he said in a low voice.

There was a lot of truth in her statement, to most people Daryl really felt he had nothing to prove, but there were _some _people that he did, to the people that mattered he really did care what they thought of him however much he might try and hide it. He looked back to catch Beth's eye again for a split second, before abruptly jumping off the bed.

Beth's eyes skimmed to his lower back as he stood up suddenly noticing a damp red patch low down on the right hand side of his back. "You're bleeding," she gasped, her hand flying up to her mouth in shock.

Still with his back to her, he glanced down his hair falling over his eye. "It's nothing, I can take care of it," he responded, twisting the back of his shirt round to look.

Beth wasn't excepting that though, she manoeuvred her body closer to his, "You've not been bit have you? Let me take a look, there are some towels in the bathroom I can use to clean it up," she persisted.

"Said I'll take care of it, didn't I? It's just a small scratch," Daryl snapped.

Beth backed off. She knew not to push him when he was being defensive. He didn't like to rely on anyone for anything. She knew that.

Instead he shuffled in to the bathroom. Clumsily pulling the door shut behind him, not bothering that it wasn't fully closed and flew back open a little again.

Beth's eyes followed him from where she was still sat on the sunken double bed.

She knew she should look away, but she couldn't help but watch through the gap in the door as he removed his leather vest, before tugging his shirt off and over his head. The bathroom was small and Beth could quite clearly see him stood shirtless over the small cracked sink with his back to her.

Despite all the time she had spent with him, she had never seen him with his shirt off properly before. He had always been a little weird about it. But she had never really given it that much thought. But now looking at his bare tattooed back, she was unable to stop the look of shock from crossing her face, her eyes widening at an alarming rate as they focused in on the deep scars running across the length of his muscular back. Giving her a whole new perspective on why Daryl was the way he was.

She got it now.

An intense rush of emotions washed over her as suddenly everything became clear, his reluctance to form relationships and trust easily, his awkwardness around people in general and his difficulty becoming emotionally involved with anyone. How he was always so defensive, and she thought back to the way he had acted around her back in the moonshine cabin. He had been so full of anger, but his face had been consumed with sadness, it had taken her by surprise, the darkness that had appeared in his eyes.

She'd had no idea the extent of the abuse he must have suffered.

Watching him some more, he pulled out an old cloth from his back trouser pocket to wipe at the fresh bloodied wound at the centre of his right hand side, he must have picked it up from their struggles at the hospital earlier Beth thought, unable to tear her eyes away from his scarred flesh as he patched himself up.

Everyone had scars now. That was a given. But Beth could tell these were old scars. They ran deep, and they had been there a long time, possibly since childhood even. She was amazed he had escaped whatever horrors he must have lived through to become the man he was now.

Her heart hurt for the pain she knew he had always held deep within his eyes. He had told her once he had never relied on '_no-one for nothing'. _She had found that hard to completely believe given her comfortable upbringing, but she was starting to see the heartbreaking truth in his words.

At that moment she wanted to cry for him, for what he must have been through. But he was always so strong; and despite the burning in her eyes she knew she needed to be strong too.

He winced, pulling his shirt back on and Beth turned away.

She half expected him to return to the armchair by the window, guarded and serious. Instead he came back in to the room, oblivious to her thoughts, walking straight towards the bed and her again.

Her big blue eyes still a little startled and overwhelmed, studied him as he moved.

He shot her an odd look, "What?" he said scowling a little, noticing the strange look on her face, almost as though she had seen a ghost.

"What?" he said again, with more irritation and also slight confusion, wrinkling his brow as she didn't reply straight away.

She shook her head, "No-nothing," she stuttered with a weak smile.

He sighed long and hard, dropping back on to the bed next to her.

A silence fell. The room still dimly lit by the few candles they had found on arrival and apart from the sound of the howling wind outside their door it seemed to have gone quiet from the other rooms.

Beth could hear his heavy breathing in the darkness. So aware of his tense body next to hers, looking towards him her throat tightened, the urge to reach over and touch him was immense. To put her arms around him and offer him some small comfort. She wanted to give him that, he deserved that.

Instead she remained frozen to her spot on the bed. Aware she was still looking at him with gaping eyes in the darkened room.

Daryl moved his head, his eyes resting fully on Beth's dark profile now. He could see she still looked troubled all of a sudden, more so than earlier as his eyes searched her face trying to figure it out. He realized the past day had been particularly tough, even by their standards. The trouble at the hospital site had been more than any of them had expected. Then there was this weird place, the threat of what could be lurking and the other survivors, not forgetting the worry about Judith too, the reason they were here right now.

He knew he wasn't very good at offering reassurance and comfort, having never been shown anything like that himself growing up, he'd always had to just get on with it. But there was something about the blonde girl next to him that melted his heart a little, made him feel protective and responsible. He would never forget that it was because of her he had made it this far after the prison had fallen and for a long time he had given up hope of ever seeing her again.

"Asskickers gonna be ok, we'll make sure of that," he said slowly and quietly.

Beth nodded her head in agreement, her eyes still wide. Feeling guilty that Judith had actually been the last thing on her mind at that moment.

Seeing his words still looked a little lost on her, Daryl wasn't quite sure where his next words were coming from as he continued, "They're going be taking care of her back there, your boyfriend, he's got it."

Beth flinched noticeably this time, taking in the genuine sincerity on his face.

"Ryan y'know he aint my boyfriend," she whispered with a sigh, not taking her gaze from his face. Slowly it was falling in to place, her strong friendship with Ryan, her confused feelings for Daryl that had been creeping back in since they had been reunited.

Daringly she shuffled closer to him.

Daryl moved his eyes across her face, "Maybe….he should.." he drawled out slowly.

"Don't," Beth interrupted, the tone of her voice shaky, not taking her eyes away from him, feeling a tingle growing in her stomach. His clothes might be crumpled, his face lined, but there was something so appealing about him, sweet but tough, kind but gruff. After all they had been through, she knew she could never feel about anyone else the way she felt about him now.

Shaking slightly, she bravely reached out to find his fingers with her own. Holding his hand in hers, she slowly brought it up to glide across the smooth skin on her cheek.

Daryl didn't object as he enjoyed the feeling of her soft skin under his hot touch.

He looked further in to her beautiful blue eyes, the look of worry and confusion had disappeared now, having been replaced with something else, slight apprehension still but there was a new expression, a sort of wanting, desire even.

It scared the hell out of him.

He knew he should pull back, exercise some self restraint. But he couldn't. He wanted this, as much as she did. He just needed to completely accept it, the feelings that had him so confused, that were consuming him.

They both fell silent.

Daryl carefully removed his hand from her face, without breaking their contact he drew her slowly towards him. His body trembling as he felt her lips gently brush his. Confirming with actions what neither had ever been able to say with words. There was something there.

The kiss was light and sweet, their mouths gently pressing together; it had been a long time since Daryl had kissed a woman, his body responding eagerly, his heart thundering loudly in his chest. Moving his hand up, he gently ran the pad of his thumb across her cheek bone, she had a scar there, he had never asked her how she had got it, it didn't matter. It was part of her now.

Beth felt blood pulsing through her veins at a scary rate. She hadn't realized just how long she had waited for this moment. Pushing her body further in to his, gripping the back of his shaggy dark hair, the feel of his touch was electric; she could feel their anxieties starting to seep away as they put all their emotions in to kissing each other.

Eventually, they broke apart. Both too startled to speak, the air having fallen eerily quiet.

Blinking, Beth looked at him. Scarcely able to believe what had just happened.

He pressed his lips in to a firm line, "We should get some rest," he muttered aprubtly looking away from her.

Beth nodded meekly, her face burning, uncertainty in her mind again, trying to ignore the emotions that were threatening to explode in her heart. She'd been a fool if she thought this was going to be easy.

Then, he touched her arm. It was a simple touch, but it was tender and gentle, in a way that told her he was there, he was always going to be there, and he cared. And a smile brightened Beth's face as she lay back, content in the knowledge that despite the grim circumstances for the moment at least she was right back where she wanted to be.

**A/N- Thanks for reading, please leave some a review if you can! :)**


	17. Chapter 17

Daryl woke from a deep dreamless sleep, to blinding sunlight streaming through the murky coloured glass in the window. Slowly he prized his sleepy eyes open, trying to piece together where he was. He could tell he was in a bed of some sorts and from the dry taste in his mouth that he had been drinking.

But it wasn't the same firm mattress and starchy clean sheets he had become used to sleeping in back at their new home in the safe community, the place that Beth had been living in for months without them. The sheets he was in now smelt of damp and the bed was lumpy and uncomfortable where the springs were giving way. But still any bed was a luxury to Daryl after some of the places he had been forced to sleep in over the past few years.

He shifted his head a little to see blonde hair splayed out over the pillow next to him, and slowly it all came back to him. Every last thing.

His instincts told him to get up and move fast, to keep his weapons close and investigate what danger could be lurking as he mentally kicked himself for falling asleep the night before, to losing his self control so readily. He had been determined to stay awake all night and keep watch so he had could keep alerted to any potential trouble, but somehow he had got carried away in the moment with Beth. He had never intended to kiss her, _it was Beth_, but it had been as though there had been an invisible force drawing him to her.

Right now though as much as his survival instincts were telling him to move, something else, something more powerful was keeping him right where he was, still lying on the bed.

The shitty motel room seemed to spin round a little as he tried to figure out what his next move should be, how he would handle things with Beth when she woke. He leaned on to his side slightly, his index finger resting against his closed lips as his dark blue eyes looked over intensely at the image of the sleeping blonde girl next to him and a thousand thoughts rushed through his head.

What had he been thinking? Where had it come from? Had he always desired her like that without really realising it? Or had something changed? Had the sight of her fighting off the walkers at the hospital made him see how much she had grown? Made him contemplate the very real possibility that…..

He continued to stare at her.

She was still asleep. She looked so peaceful and innocent to Daryl. Her hair had all come out of its messy ponytail from the night before and was falling around her face in loose waves. Her eyelids were fluttering slightly as she dreamt and she was mumbling something he couldn't make out. For a moment Daryl found himself completely lost in the moment. Taking a small marvel at how beautiful she was as he watched her contently.

Then reality kicked in, Beth suddenly opened her eyes.

"Morning," she said sleepily, flashing him a shy smile.

Beth was a little taken aback at first, waking to find Daryl still lying next to her looking at her so intensely, he had an expression on his face she hadn't seen before and it both warmed and confused her at the same time. Her insides swarming with butterflies as she recalled their last few moments before falling asleep, he had allowed her to get close, closer than she ever thought he would.

She had been uncertain how he would behave towards her the next day after their intimate moment together the previous night. Whether he'd act as though he regretted it and shut her out again. But looking at him now, Beth saw a mixture of emotions in his eyes, he looked a little puzzled but there was also a sort of slight amazement, contentment even, mixed with a little apprehension, but there were certainly no signs of any visible regret she could easily detect. His eyes remaining fixed on her face for a second more, before he suddenly looked a little uncomfortable.

Beth could sense that, more than anything, Daryl had found getting close to her like that and now being caught staring at her asleep, awkward as hell.

It didn't come easily to him but he managed to force a quick smile back at her in return, before breaking eye contact completely and looking to the door away from her inquisitive eyes. Embarrassed that she had caught him looking at her the way he had.

Before either of them had the chance to say anything further, they suddenly heard the sound of voices coming from outside the room.

Daryl instantly leapt off the bed. Still fully clothed, he grabbed his crossbow. Silently making his way towards the door, he didn't look back at Beth his eyes focused firmly on the door and any impending danger, gesturing with his left hand for her to stay back.

Glancing through the peephole in the door, he felt his heart thundering in his chest as he flicked the edges of his long messy hair out of his eyes to get a better look. He told himself he wasn't afraid of anything anymore, but that was a lie. He wasn't afraid of walkers or other survivors, of running in to bad people and what they could do to him, that didn't bother him. However what bothered him, terrifying him more and more these days wasn't the thought of what could happen to him, it was what could happen to _her._...

He could make out two males and possibly two females. His pulse suddenly excelled as he realized the two nearest to him were Glenn and Maggie. He hesitated, trying to catch what they were saying so he could form some sort of plan before he rushed out.

Waiting some more he wrinkled his brow in confusion, their voices were raised, but far from sounding heated or angry, it sounded almost as though they were laughing.

Slowly he opened the door, peering around his eyes fierce and on high alert still, his gaze rested on the group stood casually in front of him. Glenn turned around first.

"Hey," he said his face smiling and relaxed.

Daryl's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Daryl this is my cousin Vincent," he said, gesturing to the man to his right, they didn't look identical but there was definitely a family resemblance. Daryl hadn't gotten a good look at the mysterious male he and Beth had spotted outside the night before, but he had the same hair colour and build as the guy stood in front of him now, so he had no doubt it was the same person.

"How's is going?" Vincent said grinning in Daryl's direction.

Daryl silently nodded, his eyes still full of suspicion. It went without saying he trusted Glenn, but there was something about the other guy that he wasn't sure about yet, his guard remaining up.

"Daryls one of our original group," Glenn explained a little awkwardly, realizing Daryl wasn't entirely comfortable with the current situation.

Suddenly all eyes were looking beyond Daryl as he felt a presence brush the back of his arm. Glancing to the side he saw blonde hair, Beth had appeared now too. Vincent's eyes instantly lit up at the sight of the young blonde girl, causing Daryl's face to fill with further distrust.

"What's going on?" Beth asked confused, looking around.

"This is Vinnie, Glenn's cousin," Maggie explained. Turning back to Vincent, "This is my sister Beth."

"Well I'm impressed cuz you dark horse, travelling with two lovely ladies, guess the end of the world is good for some things eh?" Vincent said with smirk in Glenn's direction.

Maggie scowled back at Glenn's relative and Beth found herself looking to Daryl to see a dark look had crept on to his face. She hoped there wasn't going to be any more trouble.

"So you've been surviving here all this time?" Glenn questioned, changing the subject the tone becoming more serious.

The smirk disappeared from Vincent's face as he nodded, "Most of it."

"We had a larger group, but.." the girl stood next to him spoke up for the first time. "Now it's just the two of us."

She didn't need to elaborate further; they had all suffered enough to understand. Losing people on a regular basis seemed to just be an excepted part of the new world now and everyone went quiet, reflecting on their own individual losses.

"Come on, I'll take you down to the basement, we can fix you some coffee and breakfast," Vinnie replied, grinning again at Beth and Maggie, his eyes turning slightly more wary when he looked to Daryl's direction.

"You have coffee?" Glenn said a look of surprise appearing on his face.

"Coffee, soda, water, beer, you name it, we got it," Vincent replied proudly, just as the girl with Vincent turned to shoot him a warning look.

"Why are you telling us that?" Glenn queried. He knew his cousin; he didn't do anything unless there was something in it for him.

"You're family," he replied.

…...

"So how'd you get all this stuff?" Daryl asked in a gruff voice after Vincent had led them all down to a hidden basement, stocked with rows and rows of all sorts of imperishable foods, along with batteries, guns and candles.

"I saw all this coming," he replied, "Glenn will tell you I've always been a conspiracy nut. I knew sooner or later something like this would happen, so I prepared for it. We've got enough food and supplies stored here for at least 10 years. I stocked up, food, water, weapons, medicine as much as I could find I took. Made sure those gates around the building were secure too. They told me I was crazy, now look whose having the last laugh. I'm not just some sleazy motel owner anymore, I'm a survivor," he said with a dark chuckle.

"Wait," Beth suddenly said, causing all eyes to turn to her. "Did you say you had medicine? Do you happen to have this?" She asked excitedly, pulling Ryan's crumpled piece of paper out of her pocket to hand to him.

He looked at it for a second, before looking away deep in thought, a tense silence following as they waited for him to speak.

"You have it or not?" Glenn said impatiently.

"Yeah, I got it," Vincent replied slowly, more seriously.

"Well that's great." Beth said, both her and Maggie breaking in to wide grins as Daryl and Glenn remained stony faced.

"But you can't have it," Vincent said, "For nothing."

"I'll trade you, that cross bow," he said looking to Daryl.

Daryl glared at him in response. He wasn't prepared to give up his crossbow without a fight.

"Come on Vinnie a little girls life could depend on it," Glenn said, aware this wasn't going to be straightforward.

"Our lives could depend on it," Vincent replied, the light heartedness from earlier disappearing completely from his face. "You have to understand I can't just go around giving away charity."

"It's not charity, we're family, remember?" Glenn said trying to reason with his cousin.

"Ain't no way you're getting this crossbow," Daryl said fiercely. He knew he would have no problem killing the man in front of him if he had to, Glenn's relative or not in his eyes he was just another asshole. His life was nothing to save Judith's.

"Okay, okay, I'll be nice. You get to keep the crossbow, if you guys agree to give me a go on your girls here," he said turning to leer again at Beth and Maggie smirking. "Ladies, what do you say, take one for the team?" he said with a sleazy smile, as the dark haired girl next to him shot him a filthy look and hit his arm.

Daryl's eyes flashed with rage, lifting his crossbow, pointing it straight at Vincent. "One more word and I put an arrow through your eye," he said.

"Easy, Daryl," Glenn said holding up his hand, trying to diffuse the situation. "We don't know were he keeps the medicine yet."

Vincent's eyes locked with Daryl's, "Look take what you want from here, food, water, guns they're yours, then get the hell out of here," he said.

"I ain't interested in your stash," Daryl said gruffly, "Just get us the medicine. Better still tell us where it is and we'll get it." He gestured for Beth to hand him the crumpled paper, holding it up so Vincent could read it again.

Vincent sighed, eventually saying reluctantly, "I keep all the drugs in a locked room behind this one... here," he handed him a key from around his neck. "Now can you get that thing out of my face?"

"Stay here, make sure he don't move," Daryl said to Glenn and Maggie lowering his crossbow, taking control as he gestured with his head for Beth to follow him.

"Friendly guy," Vincent said sarcastically as Daryl and Beth left the room.

Glenn didn't respond.

"Have to say don't seem like your usual type of friend cuz?" Vincent went on to say.

Glenn still didn't say anything, looking back to Maggie for a second who raised her eyebrows as they exchanged a look .

"You know, you don't have to stick around with people like him. You could stay here, join me and Hazel here. You, your girl….and her pretty sister," Vincent said looking from Glenn to Maggie.

"You'll be safe here, you know you will be. So what do you say, drop the redneck and join us?" he questioned further.

"No thanks," Glenn said firmly.

"He's our family," Maggie added profoundly.

"Suit yourself," Vincent said.

…..

"Woah, he wasn't lying," Beth said looking around with big surprised eyes. It was as though there was a whole pharmacy in front of their eyes.

"No wonder he wanted to keep this place quiet," Daryl mumbled, it was a pretty impressive collection of drugs he thought, as he looked around.

"How much of this stuff should we take?" Beth said looking to Daryl biting her lip. Vincent was a jerk, but she didn't want to rip him off completely.

Daryl paused before thrusting the paper with the name of the antibiotics on it in to her hand muttering, "Just find the right stuff, then lets get out of here." Beth looked back to him in confusion as she held the paper.

"I can't make out that damn handwriting," he mumbled looking away.

"It's here," Beth said smiling, shovelling the bottles in to her backpack looking back to catch Daryl's eye as they both shared a brief rush of joy.

It was times like this that restored Beth's hope in the world. That sometimes no matter how desperate things seemed good would find you and before she knew what she was doing she leaned in to Daryl kissing him quickly on the cheek, before shyly turning away and back to the task in hand. Aware Daryl's eyes were still on her as she readjusted the contents of her backpack so as not to squash the bottles.

…

"We should make it back before dark," Glenn said as the group wearily arrived back at their abandoned car. He opened the driver's door and slid in.

Daryl placed his hand on the passenger door.

"I'll ride in the front, you two go in the back for a change," Maggie said smiling at Daryl, then back at Beth.

Daryl shifted awkwardly. Aware Beth's eyes were flickering over him. "I got the map, I know the way," he said, opening the door to the front seat to swing himself in fully before glancing back one last time in Beth's direction as her cheeks flushed pink slightly and she glanced away. They still hadn't mentioned what had happened the night before.

Leaving Maggie looking from where Daryl was sat in the front back to Beth, a strange look crossing her face as she sensed the atmosphere between her sister and the older guy, and it suddenly dawned on her.

She got it now. The reason Beth had seemed so weird whenever she had brought up the subject of her and Ryan. Daryl's recent moodiness, especially around Beth.

They drove most of the way back in silence. They had the medicine for Judith, enough gas to make it back comfortably and no-one had been badly hurt. They could all relax and reflect, having survived to see another day.

Lost in her thoughts as they drove through the long stretches of eerily empty roads, Beth's mind wandered again to Daryl sat in front of her. There hadn't been a chance to have a proper conversation with him to address the line they had crossed the night before. Although something told her Daryl wasn't in a hurry to do so anyway. She got the impression that now it had had the chance to sink in, he possibly felt even more uncomfortable and confused about it. Maybe that was in part due to their history, their friendship and also their age difference. But she hoped despite all that he didn't think it had been a mistake. Because not for one moment had that thought crossed her mind.

All the emotions he brought out in her were slowly coming flooding back. She tried not to feel too rejected by his refusal to ride next to her in the back. Telling herself that it made sense, seeing as he knew the way better than Maggie did.

She glanced in to the side rear view mirror, catching his eye for a split second, before he looked away from her and her heart sank a little again. He was so difficult to read sometimes.

Beth knew she could try and pretend she wasn't falling for him that it wouldn't bother her if he went cold and weird with her again. But she was tired of fighting the overwhelming attraction she felt for the gruff redneck, an attraction that had taken her by such surprise at first. But ran deeper than anything she had expereiced previously. The way she had felt when they had kissed was just affirmation of that, and that feeling alone was one thing she knew she could never deny to herself

Beth was aware too that Maggie kept giving her small glances from where she was sat beside her in the car as they sped through the deserted countryside. She knew her older sister could tell Beth had something on her mind and she knew Maggie would never stop looking out for her. Despite the fact Beth had more than proven she was no longer a defenceless little girl, Maggie would always be the over protective older sibling and in some ways Beth liked that, turning to give her a warm smile as Maggie flashed her a reassuring one back. It was nothing short of a miracle that they had found each other again.

….

A small group had gathered to greet them as they pulled up back at the safezone, the walled community that was now home to all of them.

"You're back already," Isobel was the first to say, a look of surprise on her face, from where she was stood next to a concerned looking Rick.

Beth's wide eyes scanned the group. She looked from Rick and Isobel to see Ryan was stood over to the side of them. He caught her eye and smiled, relief flooding his eyes as Beth realised just how much she meant to him, he had been worried about her she could see it on his face.

"Did you get them?" Rick said straight away before anyone else had the chance to speak, stepping forwards, his pale blue eyes searching their faces.

Beth broke in to a smile, "We got them,"she said looking back to Daryl for a moment as she pulled the bottles out of her backpack.

"Are they the right ones?" She asked, handing them over to Ryan. Noticing how clean and fresh he looked with his perfectly styled hair and neatly pressed shirt, in contrast to the dirty mess she and the rest of her smaller group were after their trip.

"They're the ones, you all did well," Ryan said, his brilliant green eyes lighting up, his face looking impressed, nodding at Daryl too.

"What, thought we wouldn't find them?" Beth responded still smiling.

"Didn't doubt you for a minute Blondie," Ryan said leaning in confidently to plant a lingering kiss on her pink cheek, brushing her skin with his finely groomed stubble as he pulled away leaving Beth with a deep waft of his delicious aftershave.

Beth glanced back behind her, her eyes moving from a relieved looking Maggie and Glenn to where Daryl was still stood in the same spot, his expression unreadable.

Feeling awkward, she looked back to see Rick was in front of her, "Thank you, Beth." He said, his face full of genuine gratitude and Beth felt a deep warmth that he now saw her as a valued member of the group.

Instinctively, Beth turned around looking behind her again. Seeing Maggie and Glenn were still there. She looked around to see Daryl had moved slightly further away now, leaning back against the side of the car again, smoking a cigarette. The early evening breeze gently blowing his long hair over his face as he blew out smoke looking deep in thought.

Beth drew in a breath, about to walk up to join him when out of no-where Carol appeared next to Daryl. The older woman said something to him, placing her hand on his arm and he turned to follow her. Beth felt her heart sink a little.

Feeling a hand on her own arm, she flinched turning to see Maggie stood beside her.

"Come on, let's go and get cleaned up," she said kindly as Beth forced a smile at her sister following her back to their house, not sure why she suddenly felt a little hurt. They were all back safely and Judith was going to be okay.

That was surely all that mattered, everything was going to be okay now, or was it? Beth thought. Realising, just when you felt you were on the right track again, you never really knew what was around the corner anymore.

**A/N - Thanks for reading. Please leave a review if you can. Beth and Daryl are still trying to figure out their feelings, but they might face a fresh spanner in the works ;)**


	18. Chapter 18

Ryan's brilliant green eyes followed Beth as she wandered away in to the distance with her sister, presumably back to the house they all shared, to get cleaned up and rest. He had thought about her a lot whilst she had been gone and he was more than a little relieved to have her back safe and sound, even if the closeness they had shared up until recently, was starting to fade a little.

He knew things had changed for her, now that her group were here and he could see things had changed even more after the recent run to get the medicine for Judith.

He also knew his life had changed, the moment he had first laid eyes on the young, sweet and bubbly blonde girl.

His gaze still falling in the direction she had disappeared in, he thought about following them, before deciding against it. He'd see to a few other things instead, maybe go and catch a few beers with some of the other guys too, give her some space.

'You still heading out to look for some more power supplies?" His sister, Isobel's, voice cut through his thoughts.

Reminding him of his plans to check out somewhere he had been curious about for a while now, a place he remembered their father mentioning to him before the change, that could now potentially provide them with some much needed further supplies. His recent requirements to stay put to treat Judith, having temporarily stalled those plans.

"Depends on a few things," he snapped back a little irritated, taking his frustrated mood out on his sister.

Isobel scowled back at her younger brother, although secretly a little relieved that he might have had a change of heart about going out on another risky run in to the dangerous unknown. He was her only living relative now and despite being a pain in the ass a lot of the time, she didn't know what she would do if anything happened to him.

She still remembered the day they had found each other again. The joy she had felt at seeing him alive, after pretty much everyone else that had ever meant anything to her had gone.

Glancing back at him, she could tell from his expression there was something troubling him, she knew her brother only too well. Not that he would let on to her what it was though, she thought.

She wondered if he had clashed with their leader Jack about the run he had wanted to go on, or whether it was something else. He was used to getting his own way, she knew that, he always had been. He was not only ridiculously attractive, with his model looks and tall, fit physique, but he had an independent attitude that had gotten him in to trouble on more than one occasion, but had also opened many doors for him too.

Before she had a chance to quiz him anymore, they were interrupted by the sight of Rick and Glenn, walking up to them, and she remembered Rick had disappeared off with Carol moments before, to speak to Glenn about what had happened on their trip.

"Hey Guys," it was Glenn that spoke, he was carrying a large box in his arms and he looked tired and in need of a long rest.

"Is that what I think it is?" Isobel said, noticing the Trojan branding on the side of the box Glenn was carrying.

"You're not thinking about keeping those all to yourself now, are you?" Ryan said, a smirk twitching on his lips.

Isobel shook her head, fixing her brother with a stare, rolling her pretty hazel green eyes at him.

"What?" he said, aware of her eyes burning into him, "This is the apocalypse, what else is there to do now, except screw," he said loudly, smirking even more.

Isobel's eyes unconsciously moved away from her brother and over to where Rick was stood next to Glenn, catching his blue eyes straight on with her hazel ones, blushing, as a spark hit her. She had told herself she didn't want to get involved with anyone like that again. Now that the world was so complicated, she couldn't take the risk, but there was just something about the way she felt around Rick Grimes, that she simply had no control over.

"I'm going to go and check Judith," she said, embarrassed, sweeping her head of perfectly pinned back golden ringlets, away from the former sheriff and leader of the new group, and back to her brother, who nodded in response as she turned to walk away.

...

"Shower's free, there's plenty of hot water," Beth said, rubbing the ends of her wet hair with a towel, sinking down on the sofa next to Maggie.

"Oh thanks," Maggie replied with a smile, looking up from the magazine she had been reading.

Beth continued to dab at her long freshly washed hair. It smelled fresh and fruity like mangos and passion fruit, she had no idea where Isobel managed to get her never ending supply of premium range shampoos and conditioners from, but Beth was glad that she did.

"What?" She questioned, placing the damp towel down beside her reaching for a comb, noticing her sister still looking at her, showing no visible signs of moving despite her having been desperate for a hot shower moments before Beth had beat her to it and jumped in.

Maggie's mouth was pressed in to a straight line and she had that same serious look on her face Beth recognised well, the one that always seemed to appear when her sister wanted to bring up something uncomfortable.

Rather than press her though, Beth sighed and looked away, setting to work combing the many tangles out of her long blonde locks.

"Okay, this might sound ridiculous…. But, you and Daryl?" Maggie stated boldly.

Beth suddenly felt her insides churn, she honestly hadn't been expecting her sister to come out with that.

Maggie watched her younger sibling's reaction carefully, the look on Beth's face confirming what Maggie already knew. There was something between her and the older redneck. Precisely _what _she didn't know, but she was going to find out.

"Can't believe I'm saying this, but are you two…?" Maggie went on to ask. Her eyes were burning with curiosity, studying Beth some more.

Part of Maggie couldn't believe she hadn't seen it sooner, spotting the obvious friction between Beth and Daryl, they had spent time alone together after the prison after all and they were clearly very fond of each other, these things could easily happen.

But another part of her still couldn't quite believe it, or quite wrap her head around the thought of her baby sister liking Daryl Dixon in that way. As far as she was aware they had barely interacted at all back at the prison, and he couldn't be more different than her previous boyfriends, all around her own age, had been.

But the world was a funny place now and Maggie wasn't one to judge. Daryl had more than proved to be a decent man, she felt certain of this and at the end of the day, that was really all that mattered now.

"How -how d'you...?" Beth stammered quietly, finding it hard to get her words out, her cheeks flushing pink.

"This morning, when we came through the room to get out, you were asleep in his arms," Maggie explained softly.

Beth felt herself squirm slightly under her sister's inquisitive gaze. Her eyes sliding over to rest on Maggie's face, biting her lip, she swallowed, "It's complicated," she eventually said, honestly.

"Ain't everything," Maggie said with a small chuckle. Her eyes warming, encouraging her sister to open up some more.

"You like him?" Maggie asked.

Beth nodded.

"How long?"

Beth didn't respond at first, looking down fiddling with her nails. A lock of blonde hair falling across her eye. That was a question she had asked herself many times recently.

"I dunno," she whispered, letting out a sigh.

The truth being Beth had always been curious about Daryl, even back so far as when he had first arrived at the farm. He had been quiet and moody a lot of the time, but she'd noticed him. Despite his sullenness and temper bursts, he'd had kind eyes and it was impossible not to notice he was handsome, in a different way to the usual type of clean cut boys she had crushed on, but handsome none the less.

But it wasn't until much later that he had gone from being someone she had crushed on slightly, to someone that made her heart ache a little whenever the thought of him entered her head.

Maggie's eyes flicked across her sister's profile from where she sat beside her on the couch, eyes down still. Maggie had many questions but she knew she couldn't rush the conversation, so instead she cleared her throat, starting with the one thing she knew she had to ask, "When you were alone together after the prison…..Did anything…?"

Beth immediately shook her head, her still damp hair swaying from side to side, stopping her sister in her tracks, "Nah, nothing, it wasn't like that. He looked out for me that's all. We looked out for each other."

The room suddenly fell silent, Beth mentally revisiting those first few awkward days alone in the woods with Daryl, when she'd felt as though the whole world was crumbling around her.

"Nothing happened," she said again quietly, this time moving her gaze up to meet her sister's, "Except one time right before we got separated…I….I," she stammered…

"Wanted it too," Maggie finished for her, nodding her head. Reading her sister's mind. A slightly odd feeling hitting her at the idea of her sister and Daryl, at Beth desiring him in that way, of them getting intimate together. But Maggie had spent many a dark moment thinking of all the terrible fates that could have landed upon her sweet baby sister and being intimate with Daryl Dixon didn't even come close to that.

"Yep," Beth answered, her bright blue eyes moistening with emotion. Remembering how she had felt when he had looked at her that last time as they had sat in the strange, old kitchen of the funeral home. She had never seen him look at her like that before and possibly not since.

"I thought about him a little when I was first taken, but after a while I just presumed I'd never see him again, it just felt like a dream that last time I was with him. Then when I found you guys, when I saw _him_ again, it all felt so real again." She took a deep breath, smoothing her hair behind her ear. She hadn't realised just how good saying it all out loud would feel. It was as though a huge weight had been lifted from her.

She'd also had no idea how Maggie would react to the idea of her and Daryl. Whether she'd be against it, for it, or just indifferent. But looking at her sister's face fixated on her own now, giving her her full undivided attention, Beth knew she would get no obvious objection from Maggie, whatever did or didn't happen from this point on.

"So last night?" Maggie asked, arching a brow, her eyes meeting Beth's again.

"We kissed, that was all," Beth replied, feeling a small glow building inside her at the memory, before it turned bittersweet.

The kiss had been wonderful, but Daryl hadn't pressed for anything further, not like her previous boyfriends would have done. He had been a total gentleman before they had both passed out from exhaustion, both a little overwhelmed by what had happened.

"Have you talked to him about it?" Maggie questioned further, aware from the slightly pained look appearing in Beth's eyes that it had been left unresolved.

Beth raised her eyebrows, letting out a small perplexed laugh, "This is Daryl, he don't exactly do talking," she replied.

Maggie sighed, "Well then you just gotta make him," she said forcefully, looking at the deeper hurt appearing in her little sister's eyes.

Maggie thought, despite how fond she was of Daryl, how she could throttle him at times, she had a good mind to march across town and give him a piece of her mind. He might find meaningful conversations difficult, but he was going to have to step up here and set Beth straight on what he wanted from her.

His personal life before the outbreak was somewhat of a mystery to everyone it seemed, Maggie didn't know anything about his history with women. But she knew one thing, if he was going to get involved with her sister, he would have her to answer to if he didn't treat Beth right.

...

"You're out here," Carol found Daryl on the porch, head down and fiddling with his crossbow.

He looked up, jerking his head to move his long disheveled hair out of his eyes, but he didn't say anything, choosing to ignore the frown appearing on her face.

"Everything okay?" She asked, concern crossing her features.

"Mmm.." Daryl answered faintly, Carol was his closest friend and she knew him well, there wasn't much he could hide from her, but he didn't want to talk.

"Okay," she replied. "You want me to run you a bath? Get out of those filthy clothes, I can wash them for you?" She offered, changing the subject, her eyes scanning his profile.

He shrugged, looking away to avoid giving her a proper answer, reaching in to his pocket to pull out a cigarette.

Although Daryl was aware personal hygiene had to be addressed more frequently now that he was living back in a semi-civilised society, taking a bath wasn't the first thing on his mind right now.

"At least come inside," she persisted, smiling softly at him.

"Jus' lemme finish my smoke," he mumbled gruffly.

She didn't leave. He might be stubborn, but so was she.

He fidgeted, aware he wasn't going to get off lightly.

"Something happened on the run, didn't it?" She asked simply. Unable to take her gaze away from her sullen friend, watching his haunted eyes and the shadow of stubble on his jawline beneath his lined and scarred face. Even with all his faults and flaws, she liked spending time with him, getting inside his head. He was deeply misunderstood and she loved him in so many ways, she wanted to help him.

He didn't answer.

"Daryl, I'm not stupid, this is about _Beth?_" She said, arching an eyebrow.

He looked up instantly, meeting her eyes at the mention of the younger girl's name. Now, Carol had his full attention.

She grimaced a little, afraid her suspicions were true.

"Glenn said you ran into some trouble, you nearly got overrun," Carol continued, watching him carefully to gauge his reaction. "You had to save her, didn't you? You had to save Beth?"

He shook his head.

"She didn't need me to," he replied, in a voice so low and husky it was almost inaudible, as he recalled how if anything it was Beth that had to save him back at the overrun hospital he had insisted they stopped at.

"I know what this is about," Carol said, her eyes determined.

Daryl flinched again, he was entirely out of his comfort zone having this conversation, his awkward silence inviting her to continue.

"You're not going to lose her again, Daryl," Carol said firmly.

She knew how much sadness and guilt he had been carrying around with him all those months after the younger Greene girl had gone missing. Losing Beth whilst she had been under his protection as he saw it, had hit him hard, really hard. Even if he had never spoken about it Carol had known that.

"Now that she's back, you're scared you're going to lose her all over again. But she's not going anywhere. Not now that she's here, with these people."

He avoided her gaze again, shrugging, shaking his head slightly. Of course it was always going to be in the back of his mind that something could happen to Beth, but he'd seen the way she had fought, she was tough now, she could look after herself and that wasn't his primary concern anymore. Not that he felt like sharing that with Carol at that moment.

"You don't have to feel responsible for her anymore, Daryl," Carol said, breaking the silence. "She has lots of people here, so you need to let her go, let her live her life, make her own mistakes if needs be. She's young and right here, in this place, she has a whole future ahead of her again, if she wants it."

"Let her live her life and you live yours," she repeated sincerely.

He turned back to her and their eyes met, her words were powerful and it stirred something in his heart, something deep almost melancholic that made him open his eyes.

...

Beth felt a sudden rush of butterflies as she approached Daryl's place. It wasn't particularly cold but she shivered a little dressed only in a short sleeved t-shirt and jeans. Her heart sped up as she caught sight of his silhouette outlined in the setting sun where he sat outside on the porch. He was leaning back with his knees up in front of him, cigarette dangling out of his mouth, crossbow placed at his side as always.

Beth half wondered if she should turn back, if her presence would be welcome as she noticed the sullen distant look on his face as he stared out in front of him. But she knew Maggie was right, whether he liked it or not, they needed to talk, so head down she carried on.

Getting closer, she could feel his eyes on her as she slowly climbed the steps to the porch. She looked up and her gaze met two deep dark blue eyes.

They stared at each other for a long moment, before Beth smiled shyly, "Hi," she said, blushing.

"Hi," he replied in his usual low, slightly gruff voice.

"I - uh," Beth stammered perching next to him on the porch, her arm brushing his, "Came to see how you were?" She said, mentally kicking herself for not getting straight to the point.

He nodded in response, flicking his hair out of his eyes as he blew smoke away from her into the distance. Beth knew he only really smoked when he had stuff on his mind. Which made her feel even more apprehensive.

She wondered if she should talk about Judith, but that she knew that Rick would fill him in later, so instead she cleared her throat, "Beautiful ain't it? Sunset," she said dreamily, smiling some more as she looked out to where the sun was going down on the horizon creating a stunning view of bright orange and pink swirls. It had always been her favourite time of day, there was a magic from it she could never quite put in to words.

"Guess so," Daryl replied, turning to peer at her with his creased eyes through the edges of his long hair, to see her eyes were sparkling as the light from the setting sun danced across her face. She looked painfully beautiful to him, which made him feel even more confused as she smiled back at him innocently.

"Do you ever say anything more than two words?" She mocked.

He smirked, shrugging, taking another long draw from his cigarette, looking away and avoiding her eyes. Before he was unable to stop himself from glancing back, to see her eyes were blazing, but they still had a strong light in them, a light that made him tingle and yearn to touch her. She was so close and she smelled so good.

His face turned more serious again.

" 'Bout what happened…at the motel.." Beth said quickly, her voice was slightly breathy and shaky.

He didn't reply straight away, but she could tell his wall was up again. Looking straight ahead again he said, "Shouldn't have happened," his voice raspy as he blew more smoke into the clear night air.

She nodded faintly, and Beth felt as though her heart was breaking in to a million pieces. He was rejecting her. She had feared he might have been confused, but flat out rejection, that she hadn't been prepared for.

Daryl turned back to look at her to see she was crying softly, the shadows of the approaching night hid her tears as she stared straight ahead on to the horizon.

Slowly, he felt his heart breaking.

He heard her take a sharp intake of breath, he had no idea it would be this difficult.

"I ain't the man you want me to be," he mumbled, unable to tear his guilty eyes from her. He was an idiot, he knew he was.

"Don't," she hissed, stepping back and away from him, folding her arms tightly against her chest as a deep frown appeared on her face. "Don't pull that crap on me," she said. "If you regret what happened you could at least have the decency to say it, rather than make this about me," her eyes now glowering, glistened with more unshed tears.

He shook his head, he'd had this same conversation with numerous women before, had to deal with the tears and the angry glares, but back then he had been unapologetic, that was what he was and he hadn't cared. But this time, with Beth, it was a world apart from the trashy women that he'd let down in his old life. Beth not only deserved better, but she did something indescribable to him, she'd changed him forever and he didn't regret kissing her, he only wished he could do it again and again, forever. But he couldn't.

Daryl felt his gut clench, he knew he wasn't being fair, he also knew she was expecting something from him, something he simply couldn't give.

He screwed his face up, unable to control his growing anger with the situation.

"Look this ain't some high school romance, you need to wake up," he snapped, shaking with frustration and sadness, tossing his cigarette butt to the floor stepping on it violently.

"I know that," Beth replied angrily, glaring at him some more.

"I just don't do relationships and all that crap," he said bluntly. "Never have," he muttered honestly, bowing his head in shame. He wasn't proud of the fact he was unable to let anyone get close to him in that way.

"You don't mean that," Beth whispered, her eyes still glassy.

She knew she couldn't push him though, so instead she took a step towards him, flinging her arms around his neck in a sudden movement, drawing his tense body against hers as she kissed him lightly on the cheek, catching his scratchy stubble on her soft lips, barely giving him the chance to awkwardly lift his arm up and around her too before she broke away again. Sniffing loudly, she turned away from him to walk down the steps.

Daryl felt as though his whole world was falling apart again as he watched her walk away. She deserved better.

...

Beth took a deep breath outside the front door to compose herself, rubbing at her eyes and smoothing at the edges of her hair. She could see there was a dim light coming from inside, she wondered if Maggie and Glenn were still up. She hoped not. She really didn't want to see anyone.

Slowly, she turned the door handle and stepped inside.

She followed the light into the main living room to find Ryan was sprawled out across the couch.

"Oh, you're here," she said in surprise.

"Say something," he grumbled jerking awake.

Beth's blue eyes travelled over his body. His light brown hair was a little tousled from where he had been lying but still looked styled and sexy. The top two buttons of his shirt were undone, exposing the top of his muscular chest and the first buckle of his belt had come undone too where he had been lying. He looked gorgeous.

"I wasn't expecting you, I thought Isobel said you'd been dying to get out on a run with the other guys, somewhere you wanted to check out for supplies," she said, watching as he slowly focused in on her face and she perched herself down on the couch next to him.

"Change of plan," he said, leaning over her to reach for a bottle of water that was placed on a small table to her side of the sofa. He smelled amazing, the products in his hair like mint and vanilla, she thought.

"There's a storm coming in, we're going to wait it out for a day or two," he explained quickly, taking a swig of his water, examining her face at the same time.

"You okay?" he asked.

Beth felt her cheeks flush, embarrassed it was probably obvious she'd been crying and must look a mess.

"Fine," she lied, brushing him off, running her fingers through the ends of her hair. Willing him to drop it, all she wanted to do was lie in bed and feel sorry for herself. Except her bed was now this couch.

She yawned loudly hoping he'd get the hint.

"You should get some sleep," he said, his piercing green eyes still fixed on her face.

"Easier said than done," she said, raising her eyebrows. Half hoping he'd say something funny to take her mind of the searing pain still so raw from Daryl's rejection.

"Take my bed, you'll sleep better," he said kindly, "I'll take the couch tonight."

"No," Beth protested, "I was the idiot that volunteered to give my comfortable bed away to my sister. It's only fair I have the couch."

"Think of it as a gentleman doing a lady a favour," he responded, with a smile.

She studied him, the light from the lamp was half illuminating his shadowy face, making it both dark and light at the same time. She thought back to the time before the others had arrived. Things had been different between them then, more carefree. Ryan could be a jerk but there was good in him too.

Beth sometimes wondered why he hadn't paired up with any of the other single women in their small community. He was handsome, smart, and funny with a good heart to go with it. He couldn't be short of offers, despite being a terrible flirt, he could also be very witty and charming when he needed to be.

But tonight something was different.

"What?" he asked, noticing her wide eyes staring at him.

"I err…nothing," she stammered.

He shrugged, looking away from her for a moment.

"I just wondered, ain't you going to suggest we both just have your bed, like you normally do?" She asked, with a small amused smile, blushing a little, quickly casting her eyes low to avoid his deep green gaze. She found it annoying a lot of the time, but she did kind of miss his flirty banter right now.

"Beth," he said seriously, "I may be irresistible, but I'm not blind, I can tell when to get the hint," he said with a cheeky but friendly grin, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

Ryan was fond of Beth, loved her even in a way. But he'd always known she'd had some sort of weight she'd been carrying around with her. Then he'd noticed the look she'd exchanged with the silent archer Daryl, back when they'd both agreed to go out on the run to find the antibiotics. It wouldn't have been obvious to Ryan at first, but that together with the way they had also looked at each other upon returning from their run, had told him all that he'd needed to know.

He'd also seen them talking together earlier when he had been on his way back to the house he shared with Beth, Isobel and now Maggie and Glenn too, and her conversation with the aloof older guy had looked serious.

Beth suddenly felt even more rejected. She wasn't sure why, she knew she should feel relieved that Ryan had said that, in many ways he was right. But that still didn't stop her from sniffing, trying desperately to hold back her emotions.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked again.

Beth nodded, but the fresh tears streaming down her face provoked by his kind, concerned words, said otherwise.

"Hey," he said gently, grabbing her hand and drawing her towards him, wrapping his strong arms around her trembling body.

"He's not worth your tears," he said softly, putting his hand up to rub the top of her back.

Beth cried some more, she only wished that were true.

For a second, she stiffened in his arms, then relaxed, nuzzling her face in the crook of his neck and breathing him in. She ignored all the feelings of hurt and rejection in her stomach, simply rejoicing in the fact that he cared. He was warm, solid and comforting and right now he cared…

**A/N - Thanks for reading. I know this chapter is a little on the angsty side, but a romance with Daryl is never going to be easy. I know a lot of you are desperate for more Bethyl, all I can say is be patient ;) Beth isn't going to give up on him without a fight.**

**Also, apologies for the delay in updating, I had a bad case of writers block and have also started back at work after a year off on maternity leave :( But, I am still very much committed to this story. I would also like to say a big thank you to juliedean for your help with this :) **


	19. Chapter 19

Beth woke to streams of bright sunlight, falling through the blinds. Outside the birds were chirping and a gentle breeze was rustling through the trees. All seemed strangely calm. It was mornings like this, that Beth could almost forget the shit that had happened to the world. The small sheltered community that had taken her in, having offered her some sort of life, beyond, death, destruction and despair.

She loved it here.

Propping herself up on her elbows, putting her hand up to shield her eyes from the blinding early morning light. Beth looked around confused. The bedsheets were unfamiliar, the room was neat and tidy, with the the faint smell of aftershave and some sort of mint mouthwash. She gulped, as she realised she could only be in Ryan's room, in Ryan's bed!

She quickly glanced across, to see to her relief the other side of his king-size bed hadn't been slept in. Then a dull ache hit her insides, as she remembered why she was here. Piecing together every last detail of the night before. She had cried in to Ryan's arms, and he had put her to bed in his room, he had been there for her. Then the aching inside her increased, as she remembered the reason why she had been crying. Daryl.

She felt like such a fool.

Daryl had, in his own clumsy and awkward way, told her he didn't want any kind of romantic involvement. That kissing her the way he had back at the motel, shouldn't have happened.

'_Shouldn't have happened!' _

Beth was still trying to wrap her head around what the hell that was supposed to mean. Was it because of their age difference? Was he worried about what their friends would think? Or was it simply as he had suggested, that he just didn't do romance.

Whatever it was, Beth had never felt so crushed. Why did she have to feel this way about such a complex man? She thought miserably. He had made her feel so small, so stupid. Like a pathetic schoolgirl with a crush.

She rubbed at her sleepy eyes with her knuckles, forcing herself to wake fully. Despite all the turmoil that had been going on inside her head, Beth couldn't remember the last time she had slept so deeply and peacefully. Having Ryan's big, comfortable bed, all to herself had been heaven.

The sheets were so clean and fresh, and smelled deliciously of Ryan. They were comforting to Beth. Ryan was comforting to Beth. There was no bullshit with him.

She thought back, to how she had felt wrapped up in his strong arms, as he had held her, safe and protected, like she mattered. She wondered if he _had _tried to kiss her at that moment, whether she would have been able to stop him. There was an attraction there. But was it enough?

But, despite his tough guy act, Ryan had a good heart, and Beth cared about him, the last thing she wanted to do was hurt him. He didn't deserve that.

Suddenly, she froze, hearing a soft knocking coming from the other side of the closed door.

"Beth," Isobel's voice said, as the door gently nudged open.

"Hey," Beth said, forcing a small smile, relieved it was Isobel and not Ryan, as she scooped her messy blonde hair up in to a ponytail.

"I brought you some coffee," Isobel said, perching down on the end of the bed, handing a steaming cup to Beth.

"Thanks," Beth replied, scanning Isobel's perfectly made up face, and shiny blonde hair piled up on top of her head, thinking how even with the world the way it was she still always managed to look so glamorous.

Beth reached out to take the hot beverage from her friend, her smile widening. Being brought coffee in bed was a luxury she had once thought would never happen to her again.

"What time is it?" Beth asked, her voice still sleepy, taking a sip of her coffee, suddenly realising how quiet it was.

"It's after ten," Isobel replied. "Ryan said not to wake you," the older blonde explained.

"Oh," Beth responded, feeling a little bit silly, the last thing she wanted was sympathy.

But none the less, she was grateful all the same, that he cared. Despite what had happened with Daryl, Beth had been completely exhausted after their expedition to locate Judith's medicine and her body must have welcomed the opportunity to get some proper rest.

"Where is everyone?" Beth questioned, suddenly wondering why it was so quiet.

"They've all gone out to an emergency meeting, Jack called, to discuss the sudden increase in the infected, gathering outside the walls," Isobel explained.

Beth looked at Isobel, her blue eyes widening with a slight panic, "I should be there too," she exclaimed. If there was any kind of meeting, Beth wanted to be involved.

"I'm sure they'll fill us in after, I stayed behind to keep an eye on Judith for Rick," Isobel said calmly. "Thought you might want to pop along and see how she is doing with me in a bit too?"

Beth smiled and nodded, thinking of Judith for a moment, she couldn't wait to go over and give her little princess a big hug.

"Well, I'll leave you to get up and dressed," Isobel said, looking towards a pile of Beth's discarded clothes from the night before, lying by the side of the bed.

Beth gripped her coffee cup even tighter in her hand, a surge of anxiety hitting her, she knew what it must look like.

"Nothing happened… with Ryan, I mean," she hurried to say, flashing Isobel an embarrassed look. She knew how rumours started. The last thing she wanted was people thinking she had jumped in to bed with Ryan, especially when she was so confused and hung up about Daryl.

"I know," Isobel responded immediately, with a smile.

Beth shifted around, from where she was sat half dressed in Ryan's bed, still feeling uncomfortable. She knew up until recently a lot of people had thought there was something going on between her and Isobel's handsome brother.

"He insisted I slept in here," Beth explained further, her eyes looking down, as she fidgeted with the corner of the duvet nervously.

"Well, I must say, you're honoured. I've never known my brother give up his bed for a girl before. Not unless there was something in it for him," Isobel chuckled.

Beth felt her cheeks turning pink, as she let out a small laugh too.

"He's a good friend," she said, glancing straight at Isobel. "That's all," she added, affirming this to herself more than anything.

Isobel raised her hand, her beautiful face turning more serious, "None of my business," she responded.

Beth wasn't quite sure why she felt the need to elaborate further, but there was something about Isobel's calming energy that always made her feel so relaxed, as though she could tell her anything.

"I like him…I really do….It's just…" Beth trailed off.

"Listen, Beth, I hear you. The world is complicated enough without creating any more unnecessary drama. It's best that way, right," Isobel agreed, breaking in to a reassuring smile.

This was something Isobel had told herself on many an occasion, there was little point in getting too close to anyone like that anymore, not with the world the way it was.

Although, up until recently Isobel had been beginning to wonder, whether perhaps it might just be that she simply hadn't found anyone in their new fucked up world, that she actually wanted to get close to in that way again. Sometimes, just when you least expected it, something or someone, popped up to surprise you. Changing everything!

….

Beth blinked, looking back at her friend. Her head was telling her Isobel was right, but her heart couldn't help but still be a hopeless romantic.

"And…much as I love my brother, I can tell you, he would come with his fair share of drama. He's great as a friend, but anything else…." Isobel added light heartedly, her glossy pink lips turning into a playful smile, as she raised her eyebrows, remembering all the hearts Ryan had broken in his lifetime.

On a more serious note, behind her smiles, Isobel knew Ryan, like most people now, had a lot of baggage and sadness he hid well. Finding Beth had been good for him, she didn't want him to screw that up.

Beth laughed a little too. Before her mouth turned back into a straight line and she glanced down at her hands, pondering on Isobel's words. Maybe, the other blonde was right, maybe, thinking she could have any kind of romantic relationship with anyone was just a silly fantasy, when there was so many more pressing issues to be addressed now, she thought.

"Can I ask you something?" Beth said hesitantly, chewing on her lower lip.

Isobel's green eyes fixed the younger girl with her full attention, inviting her to continue.

"If a guy goes from kissing you, and looking at you like you mean something, _really mean something_….to then basically telling you, it should never have happened and he isn't interested. What would you think?" Beth questioned, her pretty blue eyes searching Isobel's face expectantly.

Isobel's emerald green eyes flickered over Beth's face, her expression changing. "We're not talking about Ryan anymore, are we?" She responded, arching a perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

Beth gulped and shook her head, feeling a deeper blush spreading across her face.

"Well, if it were me, I would ask myself what could have changed," Isobel went on, unfazed by Beth's awkwardness. "What could have happened to have made him have such a dramatic change of heart?"

Beth sighed, sinking her chin in to her hand, she honestly had no idea what was going on in Daryl's head, or what could have made him decide that kissing her had been such a bad idea. He'd obviously, on reflection, simply decided he didn't want to let her in.

_But why?_

Beth knew he didn't trust people easily, and to trust someone on that level would be a huge deal to him. But, she'd felt so strongly that they had a deep connection, so it just didn't make sense.

"I dunno, it's complicated, he's complicated," Beth said quietly.

"Everything that's ever worth anything, always is," Isobel stated, with a small twinkle in her eye.

"Some people, they have trouble understanding their emotions, so they find it easier to push them away. To look for any excuse why they shouldn't be happy, because they don't think good things happen to them…... So, you just have to work that little bit harder. But, Beth, when you do, in the end it makes it all that much sweeter." Isobel continued, the words flowing out of her mouth so effortlessly as she locked eyes with Beth.

Beth felt her eyes narrowing slightly, she had no idea if Isobel knew that it was Daryl they were talking about. But she knew her friend wasn't stupid, she was very intuitive and something inside Beth told her that the striking blonde sat in front of her now, knew exactly who Beth was referring to. Beth also knew that Isobel saw people for what they were and she didn't judge, she would know that Daryl wasn't quite the guy that everyone else seemed to think he was.

"Listen, Beth, I can't tell you what to do. And I do still stand by what I said. We've all been through so much, and romance, and dating, and falling for someone, can be wonderful, but it can also be so painful. _But…" _She paused for a moment, as Beth looked on at her in anticipation.

"Love, real _love._ When you find it, _if, _you're lucky enough to ever find it. Then that is something worth fighting for, worth working through all the complicated shit for. Because, once you've got it, even if it comes from the most unexpected of places, you have to do everything you can to hang on to it. Because, it's the best thing in the world." Isobel stated with more passion.

Beth felt her eyes moisten slightly with emotion. She didn't know a lot about Isobel's story, but she did know that she had been married before the change. Beth also knew that despite most of the men in their community being crazy about her, Isobel didn't seem interested in anyone like that.

Beth then thought back to Daryl again, and a tingle shot through her as she remembered so vividly, the night at the motel. Falling for him the way she had, had certainly been unexpected. Not something she would ever have imagined happening back when they had all been together at the prison and he had just been quiet, loyal, but slightly moody, Daryl. Speaking to her only when he had to.

But right now, so much had happened between them that Beth couldn't help but feel very confused. Being with him in that way, just felt like it was meant to be now.

Maybe she should just accept it wasn't ever going to be what she wanted, or hoped it could be, though. But Beth knew, something burning deep inside her simply couldn't let it go…

"Ho..how do you know if it's love?" Beth stammered, her voice almost a whisper.

"You just know," Isobel replied with a defiant smile.

Beth felt her big bright blue eyes glancing away and out of the window again. She didn't need to hear anymore. She now knew, exactly what she needed to do next….

**A/N - Thanks so much for reading. Please leave a review if you can :) Next chapter will be Daryl focused! **


	20. Chapter 20

Daryl was slouching with his back against the wall, one knee up in front of him and head down. He was sat around, grouped with Rick, Glenn, Carol and some of the other members of his original group.

They had been asked to take part in a meeting, to discuss several serious issues affecting the security of their new community.

"Okay, listen up, some of you will have noticed, there has been a dramatic increase in the infected, gathering outside our walls, and it has been observed that they are newly dead, too, which is very concerning, " Jack, the leader of their new walled community said. His dark eyes scanning the room of people, gathered around him.

"I think we all know what this means," he continued, his voice ringing out loud and clear, filling the room.

"Yeah, some ass-hole has been going out without taking the proper precautions," Ryan suddenly spoke up loudly. "Leading them right to us," he said, his green eyes flashing as he looked across the room to where Daryl was sat.

"You got something you want to say?" Daryl responded, scowling, his voice deep and gruff. Looking up to fix Ryan with a moody glare. He didn't take kindly to people singling him out.

"Dunno, you tell me? Anything you want to share?" Ryan responded bluntly, shrugging.

"Daryl is an expert tracker, he knows the outdoors better than any of us," Rick spoke up in Daryl's defence.

"That's as might be, but he's still been out alone, the most out of all of your group," Ryan retorted in response.

"Keeping tabs on me, you jackass," Daryl yelled across the room.

He knew it was true, in the few weeks they had made this place their home, Daryl had been outside the safety of the walls on quite a few trips. Sometimes on his own, or with Carol, mostly on foot, occasionally on his bike. But, he knew damn well, he would never have been careless enough to have led the dead, or the living for that matter, back to their safe zone. He also knew on some level Ryan just plain had it in for him, but Daryl still resented being accused so blatantly in public.

"Don't need to, you're not exactly discreet, can spot you a mile off," Ryan smirked, his arms folded, his bright green eyes locking with Daryl's stony blue ones.

"You better watch your mouth, pretty boy," Daryl shouted.

Ryan opened his mouth to taunt Daryl some more, when the entrance door to the room they were in opened and he turned to see his sister Isobel creeping in, to stand beside Rick. Her bright hazel green eyes travelling over in his direction, shooting him a questioning look, halting him for a moment.

"Judith's fine, Beth's with her," she turned to whisper to Rick.

Ryan looked away from the sight of his sister, and shifted his focus back to Daryl. "You just better make sure you're careful, you owe us."

"I don't owe nobody nothing," Daryl said roughly, scowling some more.

"Yeah, that's pretty apparent," Ryan responded smugly, raising his eyebrows.

"You got something you want to say?" Daryl grunted, his eyes flashing fiercely, as he leapt to his feet to square up to the taller, younger guy.

"To you? No, not really. You're not exactly the conversational type. Guess you just prefer your own company. Shame really," Ryan taunted, smirking still.

Daryl's face darkened, as he lunged towards Ryan, shoving him hard, winding him a little. Causing Ryan to put his arm up ready to shove him back in return.

"Easy," Rick said, as he and Isobel both darted forwards to come in between the two sparring man. Rick, flashing Daryl a warning look, holding him back. Isobel giving her brother an unimpressed glare.

"What? I'm not the bad guy here," Ryan protested, looking at his sister's disapproving face.

"Okay, thats enough," Jack interrupted, holding up his hand.

"We need to work together here, to get to the bottom of this, and come up with a plan to defend this place if need be. Now, some of you may know, that we sent out two guys last week to investigate, Tommy and Jackson. They haven't returned. We have always known we need to be vigilant for potential threats to our livelihood here, so we need to go out there now, as a matter of urgency, and see if we can find out what's going on." He stopped to look around, his muscular arms folded against his chest, ensuring he had everyone's full and undivided attention.

Satisfied everyone was on board, Jack continued. "I propose, we split into two groups. I'll take one, we'll track down by the river and surrounding area. Rick, you take the other and head up to the main road, and see what is about up there."

Rick nodded firmly in agreement.

Jack then gestured to the people nearest to Rick, including Carol, Maggie and Isobel to join Rick's group.

Moving his head to Daryl, Glenn and Ryan, he said, "You three come with me."

"You've got to be kidding," Ryan protested, scowling, looking over to Daryl.

"This ain't negotiable," Jack responded, "You guys are the best trackers we have, put your personal differences to one side and get your asses into gear."

…...

"What's going on with Daryl?" Rick asked, glancing at Carol, as he walked along the main road, with her and Isobel.

Carol's brow knitted together, "I dunno, but he's been like a bear with a sore head ever since he got back from the medicine run," she replied.

Carol could tell there was something up with her rough and quiet friend. He was even more silent and grumpy than usual. Aside from the fight with Ryan, he had been snapping at everyone all morning. She wasn't sure exactly what was bothering him, but she intended to get to the bottom of it. She loved the moody archer with all her heart and she hated seeing him so troubled.

Watching Carol catch up to Maggie in front of them, Isobel turned to Rick. "I think I know what this is about, with Daryl and Ryan," she explained, biting down on her lower lip, flicking her hazel green eyes sideways to look across at Rick.

"Oh yeah," Rick replied, curiously.

"_Beth," _she stated.

Rick nodded, that kind of made sense to him.

"Well, Daryl is very protective of her. They spent some time alone together, he feels responsible for her now," Rick said, thinking how Daryl really would do anything to look out for the people he cared about, and with Hershel Greene no longer able to look out for his youngest daughter, Daryl must have taken it upon himself, to step into the role of vetting any future boyfriends.

Isobel let out a small slightly amused laugh, raising her eyebrow. Wondering how guys could be so clueless sometimes. Rick now, being no exception.

"No, you're still not getting it," she exclaimed.

"_This is about Beth!," _She repeated slowly, watching an even more puzzled look come over Rick.

Rick's eyes narrowed, as he tried to work out exactly what Isobel was getting at. Then suddenly he looked as though a light bulb had just gone off in his head, a little shock appearing on his face.

He got it now.

Daryl _and_ Beth.

Rick had been pretty oblivious to it, but the two must have become closer than he had cared to realise.

No wonder there was such contempt brewing between Daryl and the younger guy that Beth seemed to be particularly close to these days. The guy Rick had just naturally assumed was her new boyfriend. But, maybe not, he pondered.

But now, it all seemed so obvious, but then so completely unexpected and out of the blue at the same time. Any kind of intimate involvement between those two, would have been the last thing Rick would have expected. Daryl had never particularly shown much interest in anyone like that. There was a time when Rick had thought he might have started a romantic relationship with Carol, but not now. Rick knew enough to see, Daryl wasn't interested in her in that way. But Beth?

Rick fell silent for a moment, his curiosity getting the better of him as he wondered just what had gone on between the young blonde and the man he now considered to be his brother. He'd never brought it up, because he'd known Daryl wouldn't have wanted him to, but Rick had been very aware how hard losing her for all that time had hit Daryl.

If there had been 'something' going on between them back when they'd been separated from the rest of the group, it would explain a lot of things about Daryl's behaviour now. Especially, finding her here, seemingly involved with someone new, someone that had saved her life and brought her away to safety. A thing that none of them, including Daryl, had been able to do, Rick thought.

Beth was very young, but Rick wasn't one to judge these days, or pry. He knew that whatever was or wasn't going on between them now, was none of his business, unless it affected the group as a whole.

Rick knew the world was a different place to how it had been before the change. If Daryl and Beth wanted to be together, despite their obvious differences, then so be it. Rick knew Daryl wasn't an asshole, a little unpredictable and sullen, but he would always do right by her, Rick felt sure of that.

…...

Daryl was furious.

Stomping through the woods, following the tracks to the river, his crossbow was raised, shooting everything that moved. He knew he was wasting arrows, but something inside him couldn't stop. He needed to find a way to release his pent up emotions.

"Really, man?" He heard a loud male voice say behind him.

He didn't turn around, just kept going, crouching down to fiercely tug an arrow out of a dead rabbit. Rabbits were scare these days, this was a good catch, but he didn't care. Wiping the blood from his arrow, he stood up and kicked the dead animal to one side harshly.

He knew it was Ryan following him, but he pretended he hadn't heard him. Daryl had wanted to break away from the rest of their smaller group, tracking down by the river. So, to say Ryan was an unwelcome presence here now, was an understatement.

Ignoring him completely, Daryl carried on marching ahead. Feeling his blood simmering below the surface.

"Killing everything that moves? That's really going to help solve our security predicament," Ryan said sarcastically. Catching up to a sullen and silent Daryl.

"You know there's bad shit going on around here, if you're with us, you need to focus," Ryan snapped, looking for a reaction from Daryl.

Daryl still didn't respond.

He had noticed a trail of newly dead walkers, on his way through the woods. He knew it was alarming, that there was danger lurking. But Daryl was too pissed right now, to give it his full attention.

"You need to get your shit together, start acting like you're one of us," Ryan stated bluntly.

Daryl froze, hearing a twig snap, glancing to his right he saw a flash of reddish brown fur, instinctively he raised his crossbow and fired. Just as a small mammal sped past him like lightning and his arrow bounced and skidded across the ground.

"Dammit," he grunted under his breath. Moving towards the arrow.

"Here," Ryan said smugly, beating him to it retrieving the arrow speedily and handing it to him.

Daryl silently took the arrow the scowl on his face deepening by the second.

He knew he hadn't exactly hit it off with the smug younger guy. But since he had arrived at the new community with his group, he and Ryan had been civil enough to each other. He had even shaken his hand, after he had saved Judith. So, now, Daryl was trying to work out what he could have done to piss him off so much.

Although, if he was honest Daryl was pretty sure that deep down, he knew.

"Look, what is your problem, man?" Daryl mumbled gruffly. His eyes darkening from where he was glaring out with slanted eyes through his long dark hair.

Ryan rolled his eyes and remained silent.

The two men glowered at each other for a moment more. Then Ryan shook his head, "You really need to ask?" Letting out a small unbelieving laugh.

"My problem is seeing people I care about treated like shit," Ryan answered loudly.

Daryl furrowed his brow, unable to form any words without completely flipping his lid.

_This was about Beth. _He knew as much.

He glared at the younger guy some more, breathing deeply. He was steaming, completely fuming standing across from Ryan. '_Fuck this guy and his perfect face and body and pedigree'. _He thought, he was sick of being judged by people like him, this arrogant asshole had no idea what he was talking about.

He felt bad enough about what had happened. After the conversation that had taken place between him and Beth the night before. He knew on some levels he had done the right thing by being honest with her. But, he couldn't help but feel as though he had really fucked up. Like he had broken her trust, and remembering the hurt expression on her tear stained face, Daryl couldn't help but feel like the biggest jerk on the planet.

"Beth," Ryan said boldly, trying harder to provoke a reaction from Daryl.

Daryl froze, getting madder by the second. "Don't fucking talk to me about her. Don't even say her name." His voice was low but deadly.

"Are you serious? You have no rights over her, you lost those the minute you sent her off in floods of tears after you got bored with her," Ryan said, raising his voice even more, disbelief crossing his handsome face.

Daryl's mind was spinning, rage was pumping through his veins. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't speak.

"Don't worry, I took care of her though, gave her a shoulder to cry on. She'll be fine," Ryan added, with a menacing chuckle.

_And Daryl lost it._

He charged at the smug younger man. Pounding him with his fists, smashing them into his smooth chiseled jaw. Ryan reached up, using all his strength to throw Daryl off him, raising his fist to bring it down on to Daryl as they wrestled on the ground for a few seconds.

"Break it up," Glenn suddenly yelled, appearing with Jack through the trees to pull the two men apart. Glenn and Jack having been alerted by the sound of the the scuffle.

"Get it together you two, you're on the same fucking side," Jack yelled.

Daryl's face was like thunder, smoothing down his ruffled shirt, as he bent down to pick up his crossbow from where it had fallen on to the ground, pausing to give Ryan one last go to hell look, before he stormed off into the trees again.

…...

He wasn't entirely sure where he was going, but his pace was getting faster and faster, as he noisily snapped on twigs, putting his hands up to violently shove the branches and greenery aside as he went.

"Don't take another step," a deep unfamiliar male voice suddenly said, stopping him.

Daryl halted, hearing a gun click behind him.

He turned around slowly, to see a rough looking guy in his late twenties with long black hair, a dirty face and a handgun that he was pointing straight at him. His heart pounded, unable to believe he could have been so careless, normally he made his way through the woods with super precision and stealth. He made sure he was invisible. Now, Daryl might as well have put a neon light up to give his exact location away to any potential danger.

"Hands where I can see them," the other guy said calmly.

Reluctantly, Daryl raised his hands.

"Time's up my friend, you did well to survive out here this long, but now you're going to a better place," the dark haired stranger said.

Daryl felt his heart racing, and head spinning at an alarming rate, as he thought back to the trail of fresh walkers he'd come across earlier. There had been something sinister behind it. He should have paid it more attention.

He'd been off his game and he hoped that wasn't a mistake that would cost him his life.

...

As Daryl stood still, staring death in the face, for a moment everything stopped.

He quickly realised, today wasn't the day he wanted to die. He may have felt for a long time as though he had nothing to live for, but now Daryl could see that he did have something to live for. Ever since they had found Beth again, the glimmer of hope he'd thought was gone forever, had ignited. It may have taken a situation as extreme as having a gun pointed in his face to make him wake up to it, but he could see that now.

"Don't have to be like this," Daryl spoke up, slowly and clearly, trying to talk the stranger down.

"Yes it does," the dark haired guy said. "There is no place in the world for people like you anymore," he added quietly and sinisterly.

Daryl felt a surge of dread rocket through him, he could see by the look in the other man's eye that he meant it. For whatever crazy reason, he believed that Daryl needed to die.

"I'm doing you a favour," the stranger said, his voice turning low and creepy, "In five seconds it will all be over for you."

Daryl could feel his life flashing before his eyes, as he tried to comprehend, anything at all he could possibly do or say to save himself now.

There was nothing. He was screwed.

"Five... four..." the dark haired man counted slowly, "three.. two…."

"One," Ryan suddenly said, appearing out of the trees, and a gunshot rang out, as he shot the stranger straight through the side of his head. Causing him to topple dramatically to the ground.

Daryl didn't speak, as he breathed out a silent sigh of relief. He had been given a second chance, he had cheated death again.

His expressive blue eyes stared straight at Ryan, in an unspoken gratitude.

….

Ryan reached into his breast pocket, pulling out a small silver flask, taking a swig, he offered it to Daryl.

The two men had found themselves perched on the riverbank, silently catching their breath. Watching the steady flow of clear water gushing smoothly before them. All other noise lost in the sound of it babbling away, the afternoon sun glinting down, making the water sparkle slightly.

"Nah, I'm good thanks," Daryl responded.

Ryan, took another small sip, before placing the flask back in his shirt.

Daryl cleared his throat, his eyes sliding to his side to glance at Ryan, his dark hair sweeping across his forehead. "I never took advantage of her," he murmured.

Ryan didn't respond, but his eyes met Daryl's, letting him know that he had heard him.

"It's not what you're thinking, I'd never do anything to hurt her," Daryl explained further. His voice shaking slightly, this wasn't easy for him.

He sniffed, stroking his chin, looking away, following the soothing sound of the water trickling over a bed of rocks in front of him. The air was so clear, so fresh, at times like this it was easy to forget the world was filled with death and darkness. And right now, it gave him the chance to think properly.

"It was my fault she was taken," Daryl revealed.

"For a while before, it was just the two of us. We'd found this empty house, seemed too good to be true…" He continued to explain, pausing for a moment, allowing himself to remember how he had felt when they had come across the funeral home. Like someone, somewhere, had been looking out for them, had given them a gift. But he should have known it wouldn't have lasted. Good things never did.

"We stayed there for a couple of days, thought we'd be safe there for a while. Then we got overrun. Beth was injured, so I told her to wait for me outside. But by the time I'd got out there, she was…..just gone….If I'd only…" He trailed off, shaking his head, his voice quiet.

"Black car with a white cross?" Ryan questioned, speaking for the first time.

Daryl instantly looked back at him, shaking his hair out of his eyes, to examine Ryan's face.

"I ran after it, but I lost it. I should have tried harder, I should have found her," Daryl responded passionately, more to himself than to Ryan. Daryl didn't think the day would come when he wouldn't stop thinking that.

Ryan shook his head.

"It wasn't your fault. There wasn't anything you could have done," Ryan stated.

Daryl frowned.

"How would you know? You weren't there," Daryl mumbled gruffly in annoyance.

"My fiancé was taken by them too," Ryan suddenly said.

Daryl swallowed, his eyes narrowing, not speaking, waiting for him to elaborate further.

"Before the outbreak, I used to work at Grady Hospital as a surgeon," Ryan explained.

"When things turned to shit and I thought everyone was dead. I chose to stay there, there were two of us doctors that stayed. We teamed up with some cops. The idea was to try and save people, bring in survivors and set up some kind of a community. Ready for when the world got back to normal..."

"_Except that never happened." _

Ryan's face remained deadly serious as he continued, and Daryl remained silent.

"The people in charge became crazy. I couldn't stay. I knew I had to leave, and try to find out what had happened to my family. Our father was in the military and he had always told us, if the world went to shit, to head for this place. When I eventually got here, I found Isobel and Amelia, and it just felt too good be to true. Amelia and I had just got engaged before the change, and I thought I'd never see her again. The cop in charge, Dawn, she convinced me that Amelia would be dead."

This time it was Ryan that fell silent, lost in his thoughts. He let out a sigh and briefly closed his eyes.

"What happened to her?" Daryl asked tentatively, still looking at him, giving him his full attention. He could tell talking about this wasn't easy for Ryan.

"We'd gone out for a drive, to check a few things out. When we ran out of a gas, we were quite a way out and it was getting dark, we both blamed each other, and it turned it to a huge argument. It attracted some attention, a few of the infected started gathering around us. I made her stay in the car while I dealt with them and went to search for more gas. She didn't want to, but I insisted. When I got back, she was gone. I saw a glimpse of one of the black cars from Grady in the distance, it was one of the cops, but I knew I couldn't catch it…" His voice cracked and he swallowed.

"You can go on blaming yourself forever, but it won't do any good, believe me, you have to let it go, or the guilt will destroy you," Ryan said sincerely, turning to glance at Daryl's troubled face.

"What happened, happened. The world is fucked up now and some things are just out of your control," Ryan continued. "Beth wouldn't blame you, you know she wouldn't, and she's okay now, she's right here," he said.

Daryl pressed his lips together and blinked. "Thanks to you," he mumbled.

Ryan let another sigh and smiled ironically, "Just in the right place at the right time. We'd gone back there to get Amelia when I rescued Beth. I knew the cops from Grady would have followed me after I left. A few of them that had worked at the hospital before, knew Amelia, they would have recognised her and I have no doubt they took her on Dawn's orders to get back at me for leaving there and going to find her. So, a group of us from here, formed a rescue plan to get her back. Only, when we got there, she was already dead. They said, she'd tried to escape and they'd shot her by mistake."

"But before we left, we stumbled across Beth and we weren't about to leave her there."Ryan gulped, he tried not to dwell on the past too much, because it was too painful. He may have lost the love of his life, but he'd found Beth. Beautiful, sweet, Beth. And right now, he would do anything for her.

Daryl nodded. Thinking of Beth too.

"You don't need me to tell you what a miracle that is. That she's here and you're here," Ryan expressed, "And for some unknown reason, she seems pretty crazy about you. You've got a chance to be happy, although I'm really going to have to do something about her taste," he said, with an amused smile, noting Daryl's awkwardness.

Daryl felt a small flutter hit him, hearing those words spoken out loud. Sometimes he wondered if he had been imagining the way her sparkling blue eyes had gazed at him since they'd been reunited, along with the way her whole face seemed to light up when he smiled at something she'd said. Daryl wasn't used to people thinking that much of him, it had been nice, but confusing at the same time. On some level, he had found it easier to pretend it wasn't happening.

"Ain't that simple," Daryl replied.

Back when it had just been the two of them, Daryl had been starting to think he could get more intimate with Beth. But now, it was more complicated and he wasn't so sure.

Logic was telling him Beth should pair up with someone like the guy sitting next to him now. Someone around her own age, who knew how to behave around her, someone smart and successful, to make her family proud. But something else was telling him that none of that meant shit now.

"Whatever you're thinking, just remember the old rules don't apply here any more. Any one of us could be gone tomorrow. You don't want to have any regrets, you need to man up before it's too late and someone else claims her," Ryan said, raising his eyebrows with a smirk, before breaking in to a more genuine smile.

Ryan couldn't deny for a while the thought of hooking up with Beth was the one thing that had kept him going, but first and foremost she was his friend. A little ray of sunshine, brightening up his grey world after he had lost nearly everything. If being with Daryl made Beth happy, then Ryan would accept that.

"I'm going to go and catch up with the others," Ryan said, jumping to his feet, patting Daryl on the shoulder. "We good?" He enquired.

"We're good," Daryl replied, nodding his head.

Alone again, he closed his eyes. Thinking about what Ryan had said. For a long time, he'd lived with regrets every single day. But Beth was back now, unharmed, young, gorgeous, blonde and full of life. She was his for the taking.

He hated himself for hurting her.

He hated himself for not being able to let her in. For pushing her away.

His eyes remained closed, as he remembered exactly how it had felt to feel her lips on his that one and only time, to have her body lying next to him.

Right now, he knew he might not get the chance again, to experience something that good. Ryan was right, he needed to man up.

He knew what he needed to do.

**A/N - Thanks for reading as always :) Please leave a review if you can. I know a lot of you are anxious now for some action between Beth and Daryl, well, next chapter is going to be a good one ;) **


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N - Thanks to everyone reviewing, reading and following this story still! This chapter is for you :)**

Rick was bent over flexing his muscles chopping at timber hard and fast. He had been at it for the past hour now, it seemed to be the best way to distance himself from what had been going on the past few weeks, allowing him the chance to mentally clear his head of any negativity, whilst carrying out a mundane task.

It had taken them a while, but he and his people, were finally starting to feel settled here. They'd had their ups and downs. Having nearly lost Judith, as well as clashing with some of the other people here. But it was really beginning to feel as though they could live at this place, and be a part of this community. Which was why it was so worrying to him that there appeared to be more bad people lurking around the surrounding areas, threatening that.

After the group meeting to discuss everyone's security concerns, Rick and his smaller group had returned safely from their trip to check out the road leading to the nearest town. Having discovered a few newly dead walkers, it appeared there were still other survivors out there carrying out vicious killing sprees. Two of the original community here had also been missing for days. Even more alarmingly, a few of Jack's smaller group from the day before, including Daryl and Ryan, hadn't returned from their mission to check out the area around the river either.

Glenn and Jack had come back late the night before, having reported similar findings to Rick's group. But they had said Daryl, Ryan and a couple of the others had gone deeper in.

…...

Pondering on that, Rick paused, hearing footsteps coming up behind him, feeling a hand on his forearm.

"Rick," a female voice said.

He didn't have to look up straight away, he could tell instantly that it was Isobel. He was starting to recognise the smell of her perfume as well as the light delicate feel of her touch.

He put his axe down on the ground, wiping his brow looking over at her putting his hand up to shield himself from the early evening sun. Her face was glowing, her hair a mass of perfect pinned back golden ringlets.

"I've changed Judith's dressing, the wound is healing well, no signs of infection. She should be up and about in the next day or so," she said, her hazel green eyes shining in the natural light.

Rick nodded, "Thanks," he replied, with a little smile he was quickly starting to realise was reserved only for her.

She shook her head. "You don't have to keep thanking us," she responded.

"Yeah, I do. You took us in, and you saved my little girl. You're good people," he said sincerely.

It may have taken him a little while to see it, but Rick meant it. There was no 'us' and 'them' anymore, now it was just 'us'. His group were a part of the community here. The community that had saved Hershel Greene's youngest daughter, when he had given up hope of ever being able to.

"Rick, have you got any idea how long it has been since most of us have seen a child as young as Judith? She's nothing short of a miracle in this world, and now she's all our responsibility," Isobel gushed with a warm, heartfelt smile.

Rick smiled back again, staring at her still. Appreciating the way her t-shirt clung to her body, leaving little up to his vivid imagination.

"She had us all worried, but she's going to be fine now, and it wasn't just us, she needed those antibiotics too. If we hadn't have had those…" she trailed off, her eyes meeting his, her tone becoming more somber at the thought of what could have happened to little Judith Grimes had things been different.

Rick's face turned more serious again, "You didn't think they'd make it back with the medicine, did you?" He asked.

She blushed a little, aware of the intensity of his stare as he awaited her response, "You did?" she asked honestly.

Without breaking eye contact, Rick pressed his lips together and nodded, he hadn't been entirely certain if Daryl and the others would have come back with the antibiotics, but there had been no doubt in his mind that they would have all returned safely from that run.

"My people know what they're doing out there," Rick said slowly with passion.

"I knew that Daryl would have ensured they all made it back, and they'll make it back again this time too," he continued, reaching to gently put his hand on her arm, aware, it was her brother out there with Daryl this time.

Isobel nodded, accepting what he was saying, aware that she'd underestimated Rick and his group.

She watched as his gaze swept across her body, drinking her in, and something shifted.

Her arms dropped to her sides and she unconsciously took a small step closer to him. Rick once again was amazed by how beautiful she was, he knew little about her still, but none of that mattered to him in the moment.

At that moment all recent tension left Rick, as he got lost in the green gaze of the woman standing before him.

"You're beautiful," he said softly but boldly, watching the late sun bouncing off her face, crossing a line he felt sure he wouldn't regret. He stepped even closer to her, his hands resting on her shoulders.

Isobel didn't say anything, she just looked up at him, watching his face inch closer to hers. His hand cupped her cheekbone, tracing her features with confidence. Their close proximity was making him tingle, too taken aback to form coherent thoughts. Her eyes sparkling as he continued to touch her.

Then he kissed her.

Softly at first, without rushing it, before it sped up, deep and fast. His hands roaming over her body, letting himself go in the moment. Kissing her felt natural, it felt right and he didn't want it to ever stop.

xxxxx

Beth looked up as she heard the creak of the door. Her blue eyes floated over to rest on Daryl's silent face, from where he stood in the entrance to the medical building.

"You're back," she stated simply. Their eyes locking.

"Yeah," he responded in a low voice, taking a small step further inside, towards her, and Beth noticed he looked a little beat up.

Beth had told herself that he would return okay from the trip to check for danger outside their walls, that she shouldn't be overly concerned, especially since Ryan and a few of the others had recently come back, not long before him.

Daryl would routinely stay away for nights on end back at the prison when he went off hunting. But that thought alone still didn't stop a little voice buried deep inside her from saying - _What if he didn't come back?_

Ever since the early days, Daryl had always returned safely; if he was heading out on a run, it was a given, that more often than not he would find a way to get everyone back unharmed. But still, Beth knew the world was growing darker and darker by the day, even though she felt certain Daryl would outlive them all, there was always the chance that his luck would run out.

A thought she feared above all else.

"You okay?" He questioned hesitantly.

She nodded with a weak smile, pressing her rosy pink lips together, looking away. She hadn't forgotten the last time they had spoken. How she had felt. This was awkward.

"You find anything?" She asked, glancing back at him, aware of the urgency behind the reason for Daryl's trip out with Jack, Ryan and some of the others.

Rick had come back from his trip over towards the town, concerned that things weren't quite right. Jack returned even more distressed from his group's trip towards the river.

Daryl nodded slowly.

"Should we be worried?" Beth quickly asked, sounding panicked, her gaze moving towards the bruising around his eye.

He stared at her through his long hair, putting his hand up to sweep it out of his vision a little. Debating internally how much to tell her. That he had nearly died at the hands of a member of what they perceived to be a dangerous group which could very well be a big threat to their community and safety here. Or whether he should play it down, and just say there had been some signs there could be trouble.

Looking at Beth's wide blinking blue eyes, awaiting his response, Daryl knew he couldn't bullshit her, she didn't deserve that. This was the world they lived in now. It was as simple as that.

But now wasn't the time. He hadn't come here to discuss their current security situation with her. So he muttered gruffly, "We need to watch our backs. But nothing we can't handle at the moment."

"Oh," Beth responded, her bright eyes still blinking. She wanted to ask him more.

"Ass-kicker okay?" Daryl asked, changing the subject.

"She's fine, sleeping a lot, but soon we can take her dressing off, her wounds are healing well," Beth explained, her voice turning softer and sweeter.

He jerkily nodded his head again, satisfied with her explanation.

Beth bit her lip, watching him, waiting for him to say something else. She wasn't sure why he had come to see her here, she had presumed he would be avoiding her after his recent speech to her. But she could tell on some level he was trying to make amends right now, and it wasn't easy for either of them.

"Walk with me," he said in a low gentle voice. His eyes widening, fixed on her face, as he gestured with his head for them to go outside.

"Oh-okay," Beth stammered in agreement, slightly taken aback.

Stepping outside, dressed in just a small white t-shirt, light blue skinny jeans and her brown cowboy boots, Beth wrapped her arms around herself and shivered a little. It had been a warm day earlier, but now the sun was drifting in and out as dusk crept in, and a bitter wind was starting to gather momentum around them. A sudden gust blowing her long blonde ponytail across the side of her face, taking her by surprise as she quickly brushed it back, silently following Daryl over to the hidden coded side entrance.

Her stomach twisting slightly in anticipation of what he wanted to say to her. What could be so important he wanted to take her away from the security of the walls?

She didn't say anything, looking on surprised as he punched in the code to the entrance. As far as Beth was aware, none of her original group had been given any of the entrance codes yet. However Daryl had obtained it though, it didn't matter to her, as she silently followed him.

The side entrance wasn't used very often, it was quite well hidden and there was no footpath the other side, just a muddy slope.

Daryl went first, making his way down quickly and with ease.

He held his hand out to help steady Beth next.

Beth took his hand, instantly feeling a rush of electricity zap through her from his warm, firm grip. Remembering how he had helped her before, after the prison, when they had walked for miles across uneven ground. Although quiet and sullen a lot of the time, he had always been caring, patient and protective.

"Thanks," she said, steadying herself on the flat ground again, as he held her hand in his for a moment more, before releasing it.

"Come on," he gestured awkwardly, starting to walk in the direction of the tall trees, circling their walled community.

Beth walked along beside him, wondering some more why he was taking her out here. It felt a little close to the edge, to be outside the safety of their walls like this. There were also rules in place, set for everyone's safety, not to venture outside unless absolutely necessary, and never without checking in with one of the senior group members first.

But she didn't question it. She knew Daryl didn't like to have to check in and out with people. It had been different back at the prison, when their group had been much smaller. Him being one of the most senior members and protectors. Here, he was still struggling to find his place. She knew him better than most, she knew he needed his own space in the great outdoors, and that being in the comfort of her new community still felt a little alien to him.

They wandered on in silence, getting further away from the safe-zone. Beth felt a knot forming in her stomach as she anticipated again, why Daryl had suggested this walk.

Her wide blue eyes glanced sideways to take a look at his face. He looked serious.

She drew in a breath, before breaking the silence, "I-I'm sorry, if Ryan gave you a hard time," she suddenly said tentatively, shooting him another small glance to gauge his reaction, as they walked on.

He tilted his head to peer back at her with narrow eyes, through his long hair. The expression on his face, questioning her statement without words.

"Maggie and Glenn said there was some trouble between you and him at the meeting. Glenn said you got into a fight," she explained, raising her eyebrows, her voice a little shaky. "It was about me, wasn't it?"

Watching his sullen face, Beth had no idea how he would react to that statement, but she had to say it. It had been playing on her mind. She knew she wasn't being bigheaded, presuming their disagreement would have been about her. Ryan had seen how upset she had been the other night, after Daryl's rejection, and she knew how hot-headed and defensive Daryl could be when confronted too.

But the two of them fighting was honestly the last thing Beth had wanted. She knew Daryl wasn't a bad person, and neither was Ryan.

Ryan would have been acting with nothing but her best interests at heart, Beth thought. But from what she could tell, he had still been out of line by provoking Daryl and fighting with him, and she would tell him that as soon as she got back.

Daryl jerked his head to readjust his hair away from his face, mumbling gruffly, "Weren't a big deal."

Beth didn't reply, her eyes scanning his split lip and the small swelling under his right eye. Whatever had happened between them looked like it was a pretty big deal to her. She hated seeing him hurt. Even worse knowing that she was probably the cause of it. Glenn had told her that they had looked ready to kill each other.

She raised a brow, as he avoided eye contact, looking ahead as they walked. "Looks like it was a pretty big deal," she said.

Daryl shrugged. The scuffle with Ryan had been nothing, compared to having a gun shoved in his face by a psychopath.

Beth let out a small sigh. "He's not a bad person y'know."

"I know," Daryl muttered under his breath.

"He just seems to have taken it upon himself to look out for me. Ever since he found me at Grady, he's been like that for some reason," Beth said, saying the last part quietly, more to herself than anything.

At first she had wondered whether Ryan was being nice to her, because she was a new young female and therefore a challenge to him. But, as time had gone on, it had become apparent to her that wasn't it. He didn't just want to get into her pants, he actually cared about her.

Daryl sniffed and looked away. It was clear from both Beth's words and the expression on her face, that she wasn't fully aware of the real reason Ryan had been in Atlanta when he had found her at the hospital. She had mentioned once, that Ryan and his group had been there looking for another girl, but Daryl guessed Ryan had never told her what he had confessed to him the day before, about it being his fiancé they had gone back for.

Whatever the truth though, it was none of his business and not his place to tell, Daryl thought as he looked back to Beth.

"This way," he said, changing the subject, leading her through some trees.

A sudden stream of early evening sun, flickered through the tall branches overhead, bouncing off the ground. Looking down, Daryl noticed a flash of something glinting on the ground. He stopped to crouch down, brushing aside the long grass to pick it up.

"What are you doing?" Beth asked, stopping and staring in confusion at his sudden movement.

"It's a diamond," Daryl mumbled, picking up the once precious jewel, dusting the dirt off with his fingers.

Bouncing back up to standing, he flicked his hair out of his eyes again, as he held the cracked diamond ring up to the natural light to get a better look at it.

It was filthy and the band was broken, but it still dazzled as he twisted it around in front of his inquisitive blue eyes, gazing at it curiously.

"It's beautiful," Beth exclaimed, her mouth gaping open, she had forgotten such pretty exotic jewels existed in the world anymore.

Daryl screwed his face up. He'd never seen the appeal of such materialistic extravagant items, they just signified greed, status, and power- all the things he'd despised about their old world. But looking at it more, he had to agree with Beth, the sparkling diamond was a real beauty.

He twisted it round one more time, before holding his arm up ready to toss it and everything it represented far into the distance.

"What are you doing?" Beth exclaimed, stopping him.

"It's worthless," Daryl responded, shrugging his shoulders, staring at her, a puzzled look crossing his face.

"It's not worthless to someone," Beth protested, her eyes focusing in again on the stunning ring in Daryl's fingers.

"Whoever lost this… they aint gonna be needing it no more," Daryl grumbled, shaking his head.

"You don't know that," Beth disagreed, sighing, feeling herself shake slightly. Her blue eyes blinking away a few warm tears.

Taking a final look at the diamond, she looked away and into the bleak deserted distance. She knew Daryl was right. The diamond was no good to anyone anymore. All it did was signify shattered dreams. Behind it there was a story, no doubt a sad story. At one time it would have represented a future, love and happiness. All that was gone now, and the bright sparkling jewel trodden into the dirty ground. Lost forever.

Daryl's deep blue eyes studied Beth's sad face with concern. He couldn't pretend to understand her, or women in general. But he knew something had upset her, triggered an emotion she normally tried to keep buried. He jerked his head again, signalling they should walk on, thinking it best if they moved away from this spot.

"I just need a moment," Beth said quietly, folding her arms against her chest, looking away from him again.

He nodded and out of the corner of her eye, Beth was sure she saw him subtly put his hand in to his pocket, depositing the cracked ring in there instead of tossing it away.

Beth smiled inwardly, feeling a subtle glow build inside her. He might act like a total jerk sometimes but deep down he had a good heart, which both frustrated her and made her smile at the same time.

"What are we doing out here?" She suddenly asked forcefully, her eyes widening, flitting back over to where he was stood a little way in front of her.

She could tell by the way he was looking at her that he had something he wanted to say to her, and whatever it was, being a man of few words, it wasn't easy for him.

Daryl cleared his throat, he'd brought her out here for a reason. Looking at her now, he knew he had to seize the moment.

"Wanted to talk to you. Alone," he explained, his voice low. "Bout what I said the other night," he started, before pausing for a moment.

Beth remained silent and patient, in anticipation of what he was about to say next.

"I didn't mean to upset you. I was a dick," he mumbled, brushing his hair to the side of his face with his fingers. "You didn't deserve that. See the thing is…." he stopped again, putting his hand up to loosely cover his mouth.

Beth swallowed, from the look on his face and the tone of his voice, she got the impression she wasn't going to like what he was about to say next. She had already figured he wanted to clear the air and make things right with her, but she really didn't want him to do it like this.

"What happened that night….it was.." he continued, trying to find the right words to confess his feelings.

"Don't," Beth stopped him. Putting her hand up, her eyes flashing at him with emotion.

"Don't give me another patronising speech about how you regret what happened that night at the motel, and how you don't see me like that!" She said passionately, raising her voice, shaking her head. She didn't need to hear this again. If Ryan had put Daryl up to apologising like this, she would be seriously pissed at her friend.

"Like what?" Daryl asked quietly, his concerned eyes gazing at her pained look, hurting her again was the last thing he had wanted to do.

"Like you don't see me as someone you can get close to, someone you can trust and let in," she said slowly, allowing their eyes to meet.

"Never said I couldn't trust you," he responded, "Never said I regretted it neither," he mumbled.

Beth couldn't help but allow her lips to curl up in to the faintest of smiles hearing that. Before she took a step backwards to steady herself against the nearest tree.

She sighed to herself. Her eyes moving over the scarred, handsome face of the man in front of her. He was such a tortured soul, so complex on so many different levels. But he was a good soul, both selfless and loyal when he needed to be. The world had gone to hell. But he had a heart still, and Beth knew one thing for certain...

_She loved him!_

She just wished he would let her.

They remained silent for a second more. He was looking at her, as though he was trying to figure something out, like the rest of the world has stopped and it was just her. He had looked at her like that before, back when it had just been the two of them at the funeral home, and more recently back at Glenn's cousin's motel the night they had crossed the line and kissed. When everything changed irrevocably.

Beth thought back to her recent conversation with Isobel. If Daryl seemed to have had a change of heart after how he had been with her that night. What could have changed?

Gazing at him now, Beth realised what it was. _She got it now._

He was different when it was just the two of them. More relaxed, more open.

Back when they were around their group, he felt as though they all had their places, he was Daryl and she was sweet young Beth, they couldn't stray away from that. When they were alone, none of that mattered, it was different. He was different. It was as though he felt she needed him in a way she didn't when the others were around.

Now that they were here in this new community, with her new people too, he would be thinking more than ever that she simply didn't need him anymore. Beth knew that was bullshit. She just needed him to realise that.

"Can I ask you something?' she eventually asked.

He nodded.

"You remember back when we were in the funeral home, right before we got overrun. We were sitting in the kitchen, and you said to me, you thought we could build a life there. Did you really mean that?" Beth questioned hesitantly, her eyes enlarging, the blueness in them shining straight at him.

This was something Beth had pondered at length those first few lonely days, after she had woken up at Grady. What exactly had made Daryl say something like that? Had he really thought they could have a life, surviving alone together? Could _she_ really have been the reason, as he had implied, he changed his mind about there still being good people in the world?

But Beth had quickly pushed the memory of that last awkward discussion between them, out of her mind. The thought of what could have been, was just too painful for her. But here, now, she needed to reflect on it.

Sucking in a deep, steadying breath, she gazed at him nervously. His face was unreadable, but she could tell his emotions from his eyes, he was feeling just as overwhelmed as she was. The memory of that night, meant something to him. Just as it did to her.

His body tensed, their eyes locking even deeper, as they started at each other wordlessly for a moment.

Daryl remembered the conversation she was referring to, vividly. He remembered what he had said, and how he had felt when he had said it. He had truly believed they should try and stay at the funeral home, that something good could happen. Beth had made him believe that. She had given him hope.

He bent his head towards her, "Said it, didn't I?" He eventually replied in a low, slightly gruff voice.

"You thought we could be happy, just the two of us?" Beth questioned further, a small flutter rushing through her with the way he was still gazing at her.

Daryl swallowed, averting his gaze from her face, over towards the branches of the nearest tree. He had no real idea what to say to that.

"I dunno, Beth. Look it weren't some damn fairytale. It was just a place we could have stayed in for a while," he muttered more gruffly.

Beth shook her head.

"Don't do this, Daryl," she said, raising her voice, "Don't push me away. I won't let you."

She took a step closer to him, as he remained fixed in the same spot.

"What you said back then, meant something. I know it did, and you know it too," she exclaimed, her voice thick with emotion.

Daryl put his hand up to his hair. His eyes narrowing as he digested her words.

"You were different back then," Beth continued.

"Everything was different back then," Daryl grunted softly.

"No, it wasn't," Beth protested, shaking her head some more. She needed him to see that even though they had been separated for months and time had passed, and they were back around their group again, it didn't have to change what had been building between them.

"_We're still the same two people, trying to survive, trying to find something worth surviving for!" _She said, her eyes shimmering and wide.

Daryl felt a surge of emotion hit him, with the way she was looking at him. She really was beautiful. Her eyes were round and sparkling, her features dainty and symmetrical, her glossy blonde hair shining with tones of platinum and gold. She was fucking perfect.

It took his breath away and left him speechless, when her pretty blue eyes gazed his way, looking at him like he was the most important thing in the world to her.

He flinched, thinking back to what Carol had said to him. That she wasn't his responsibility here, that he should let her go, she didn't need him anymore. Carol had been acting out of nothing but concern for him, but Daryl could see now that she had been wrong.

Beth did still need him.

It was written all over her face. She needed him and he needed her. She might not need him for protection so much anymore, and he might not need her to restore his broken faith. But maybe they needed each other, simply for a reason to carry on breathing in this bleak world.

"I care about you, Daryl, and I know you care about me too. I know you do," she said definitely, watching his deep blue eyes studying her face.

"I'm not a young, helpless girl anymore. I'm a woman now and I can take care of myself, and I'm not going to die or get taken away again. I'm right here, standing in front of you," she stated breathlessly.

"So don't disappear on me," she added, in a voice so quiet it was almost a whisper.

Daryl breathed in and out deeply and silently. Slowly, he took a step closer, his body inches from hers. He put his hand carefully up to the side of her belt, allowing his touch to rest on her delicate hip.

Beth felt her stomach flip. Her eyes widened and she looked up at him, seeing nothing but desire in his eyes.

"Beth," he murmured, pausing to gauge every element of her reaction to his sudden closeness.

"I aint going nowhere," he declared in a deep and low voice. "I'll never let you go again."

His usually guarded blue eyes were softening. Filling Beth with a rush of warmth.

"Even if you give up on me, I'll always be here," he swallowed in shock. The words felt natural to him, like they had been on his tongue for months, just waiting for him to say them.

Without warning he slowly pulled her into his muscular chest. It took her by surprise for a second, before she smiled, closing her eyes and wrapping her arms around his neck, savouring the moment, breathing in his manly scent once again.

She put her hand up to touch his bicep. Feeling a heat spreading up her body.

He was shuddering ever so slightly. He had never been comfortable with physical contact, but with her it was different. It had always been different.

A pang ran down Beth as she allowed her body to relax next to his, finally she could sense all the feelings he tried so desperately to suppress. He wasn't used to coming undone, to letting people in.

"Promise," Beth whispered in a heartfelt voice into his ear.

She relaxed his grip, so that he could speak without being muffled. Looking up at him, she saw how vulnerable he had made himself. She had seen that expression in his eyes once before, the night they found the moonshine. But he had seemed lonely and lost back then, haunted even. Now his deep blue eyes, although vulnerable, seemed more hopeful.

"I promise," he said slowly.

Their eyes locked. It was unspoken but they both knew what it meant.

He put his fingers to her face, brushing the few loose strands of her blonde hair to one side, allowing himself to become lost in the moment. He was taken aback at how serene she now looked, at how that made him feel. If he was honest with himself, she always made him feel like this, like everything was good in the world, or it could be if he just kept his eyes on her.

Beth closed her eyes for a second, trying to save the perfect memory. Opening them, just in time to see him press his lips against hers, closing in slowly. It felt different to how he had kissed her before.

He tilted her head, both their mouths opening to each other as things quickly escalated. Daryl could feel all the pent up feelings he had for her bursting out of him.

Beth felt hot and dizzy, her blood rushing south and she didn't want this, whatever this finally was, to end.

He pulled her closer to him, so her perfectly rounded breasts were pushing against his chest. Her hands slid around his back, feeling his strong muscles moving under her fingertips. One hand moved to his neck and then into his hair.

God he was amazing, she thought. She would never get enough of this.

Eventually, they broke apart. He touched his forehead to hers, as she leaned back against the tree, catching her breath. Her blue eyes widened while her lips curled up in to a shy smile.

This hadn't exactly been what she had been expecting when he had appeared earlier. She had no idea what had happened to have made him have such a dramatic change of heart, but she didn't care. All that mattered was that he had!

His mouth twitched into a boyish sort of grin, and his eyes looked happy, as he mumbled, "It's getting dark, we should head home."

Beth nodded, reaching for his hand, as they turned to make their way back.

**A/N - Thanks for reading! (Finally some decent Bethyl fluff! I think they deserved it!) Please leave a review if you can! :))**


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